Two Vanderbilt MBA students receive first award to support entrepreneurial ventures
NASHVILLE – This summer, two budding entrepreneurs at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management (www.owen.vanderbilt.edu) will be paid to work on their own business ideas, rather than those of a corporate employer. This unusual opportunity is the result of a new donor-financed initiative called the Summer Enterprise Development Program (SEDP), which seeks to foster the creative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit of Owen students.
The SEDP has been established thanks to generous donations by a series of sponsors – including Owen graduates – interested in supporting entrepreneurial education and opportunities for students. Under the program, up to three students will each receive a $15,000 stipend to develop their business plans over the summer.
“While some b-schools arrange for students to work in entrepreneurial settings during their summer internships, this new program is one of only a handful that enables students to concentrate on their own ventures and be paid for doing so,” said Germain Böer, professor of management and director of the Owen Entrepreneurship Center (OEC).
This year’s recipients are Kimberly Lexow (MBA 2007), who has developed a business that provides health care to high-income individuals who seek a superior experience when dealing with health care providers, and Alan Hopper (MBA 2007), inventor of a device that better protects credit card information through a combination of hardware and software.
Awardees are chosen through a competition in which Owen faculty judge the business ideas based on quality, student commitment and potential of return for future investors. Winners are provided guidance throughout the summer by the OEC faculty, and can continue to work on the venture for course credit during the second year of their MBA studies.
A Legacy of Supporting Entrepreneurship
The genesis of the SEDP dates back to 2003 when Billy Mounger, a 1979 graduate of Vanderbilt, established the Mounger Entrepreneur Internships to fund the entrepreneurial ideas of several students over the summer. The initial awards provided by Mounger, who is president of Telos Foundation, Inc. and TriStar Technologies LLC. in Jackson, Miss., included the two founders of Veran Medical Technologies, an early stage medical device firm that has developed a real-time registration and navigation system for ablation therapies in soft tissue environments.
Now boasting a growing roster of donors, the SEDP has secured funding for a series of internship stipends through 2007. This summer’s sponsors include Sara Whisenant, vice president at Sun Microsystems, and Joseph A. Cashia, founder and CEO of National Renal Alliance and a 2005 EMBA graduate from Owen.
Throughout its history, the Owen Entrepreneurship Center (www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/oec) has been the catalyst for many successful ventures by Owen students. It brings together entrepreneurs, business managers, investors, faculty and students to share innovative ideas and build relationships through networking, programs and other events. In addition to Veran, other companies that trace their roots to the OEC include WheelsNext (), a leading online retailer and supplier of performance wheels and tires; Capital Confirmation (), now the dominant provider of secure, online confirmation services; and Encapsula NanoSciences (), a supplier of liposomal systems to research laboratories, food manufacturing firms and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.
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Founded in 1969, the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University is ranked as a top institution by Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times and Forbes.
