A $4 million gift from alumnus Dave Petrone and his wife, Nancy, brings new positions in the Entrepreneurship Center and Knight Campus, as well as a significant investment in the university. Oregon Innovation Challenge.
The $4 million gift will be divided equally between the university’s Knight Campus and Lundquist College of Business in Portland to promote entrepreneurship, according to Entrepreneurship Center Director Jeff Sorensen. It is said that This gift will bring one new Petrone Entrepreneur in Residence to mentor students, in addition to current Entrepreneur in Residence Bob Miguel.
“Dave and Nancy’s gift is directly aimed at giving us the ability to bring in people who have built companies in biotechnology, have that experience, and can mentor the next generation to do the same,” Sorensen said. Told. “They’re some of the most experienced entrepreneurs we have in this space. I think they’ll do a great job. We started in the spring, so we’re on track. That’s one of the promises we made to Dave and Nancy.”
Sorensen said Petrone’s new entrepreneur, Anne Carney Nelson, is the chief operating officer of Impria, a semiconductor technology company that was acquired by JSR Corporation for $514 million and is the largest company in Oregon history. It became one of the private company acquisitions.
Miguel said in an email to the Daily Emerald that Petrone’s gift will help foster technological development in the industry.
“The new Petrone Entrepreneur in Residence will help expand the availability of the Center for Entrepreneurship so that more students and faculty can apply the research being done at the University of Oregon to industry.” Miguel said in an email. “There is amazing technology being developed at UO right now, and we are excited to help researchers take it from idea to reality.”
Petrone’s gift also helps form a connection between the Knight Campus and the Oregon Innovation Challenge, Sorensen said.
“Bringing these entrepreneurs into residence not only allows them to collaborate with faculty and graduate students on the Knight Campus, but also attracts them to the Oregon Innovation Challenge,” Sorensen said. “And that’s really kind of his connection to the OIC.”
The $2 million donated to each campus will have its own allocation and purpose, Sorensen said.
“The funding coming into the Entrepreneurship Center is really aimed at building the capacity to collaborate with the Knight Campus and the broader sciences,” Sorensen said. “And the money going to the Knight Campus is intended to attract the type of people who want to work in the entrepreneurship center.”
Sorensen said the donation to Petrone aims to bridge the gap between the two campuses, which are both committed to promoting entrepreneurship.
“So this is really a bridge,” Sorensen said. “And by contributing to both sides, there will be an opportunity for both sides to cooperate in the future.”
