DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire’s Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) is seeking nominations for its first inductee into the newly formed Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Created with a gift from an anonymous donor, the Hall of Fame will recognize its first member in the fall. The deadline to nominate for the first award is Aug. 1, 2018.

“More than 10,000 UNH alumni have founded, co-founded, or run their own companies,” said Ian Grant, director of the ECenter. “This gift will allow us to celebrate the innovation and entrepreneurship that has been in the DNA of UNH students and alumni since the beginning. In addition, this will inspire students to see what is possible when you have an idea and take the steps to move it forward into a successful venture.”

The award will recognize a graduate who has achieved entrepreneurial success with ventures they have started and who have given back to the community in a meaningful way. It will be presented annually as part of the innovators’ dinner, which was created to celebrate and encourage the commercialization of innovative ideas generated through UNH research. 

“I love the idea of having a spotlight on alumni who have taken ideas into company creation that then result in economic impact,” said Marc Sedam, associate vice provost of innovation and new ventures and managing director of UNHInnovation. “Presenting the award in conjunction with the innovators’ dinner is a fantastic expansion of what we celebrate everyday on campus.”

The Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) is the co-curricular heart of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at UNH. Its goal is to create the next generation of leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset who can see opportunities and identify creative solutions others have missed, one idea at a time. Although part of UNH, it is independent of any one college. The ECenter delivers unique hands-on experiential programming that inspires, nurtures, and mentors students from any major, at every step of process, anywhere from idea development to company creation. We operate as a start-up in an academic environment, and all programs are donor-funded.