DURHAM, N.H.—The University of New Hampshire will induct five alumni into its Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, as part of Homecoming weekend.

“Entrepreneurship runs deep in the DNA of UNH with more than 10,000 alumni who founded, co-founded, or run their own companies,” said Ian Grant, executive director of the ECenter and chair of the selection committee. “To be able to recognize and celebrate their successes and contributions is an honor.”

The inductees, in alphabetical order, are:

• Christine (Rayment) Dodson ’88 is co-founder & COO of Mamava, Inc., the leading expert in lactation space design. In 2018, Dodson and her co-founder, Sascha Mayer, were named Vermont Small Business Persons of the Year. In 2019, they were recognized as finalists for the Ernst & Young New England Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She is active in the Vermont start-up scene, participating in panel discussions, guest speaking at Pitch and guest lecturing at Champlain College and the UVM Sustainable Innovation MBA program. She is involved in her community, participating in various committees with the Burlington School District, and is the founder and former president of the VT Chapter of Hands & Voices, a parent-driven organization supporting families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Joe Faro ’91 is founder and chief food taster for Tuscan Brands, LLC. Based out of Salem, N.H., Tuscan Brands includes four Tuscan Kitchen locations and two Tuscan Market locations, and the new Tuscan Village, with a projected opening of 2022. Prior to Tuscan Brands, he launched his career with Joseph’s Gourmet Pasta and Sauces which he grew into the largest specialty pasta and sauce producer in the nation and sold to Nestlé in 2006. Faro has been active in the UNH community for years, speaking at academic events, judging competitions and supporting the local alumni networks. He is also active in his community, supporting relief efforts for the recent Columbia gas crisis, and partnering with organizations like Lazarus House Homeless Shelter and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Salem, Lawrence and Boston.
• Thomas Hazel ’95 is the founder, CTO and chief scientist at CHAOSSEARCH, a big data analytics company. Over the past 25 years, he has held a number of leadership positions and steered many successful projects to acquisition by Oracle, CloudTree and Deep Information Sciences. His accolades include Best New Product of the Year by Best in Biz, 2015; MITX Best New Technology by Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange, 2016; and InfoWorld’s Technology of the Year, 2017. He is a member of the Forbes Technology Council, sits on the board of Deep Software Foundation, founder of the Association for Computing Machinery, member of the Mortar Board National Honor Society and member of the Emanuel/Andover Board of Governors. He has mentored UNH students and alumni through their own ventures.
• Les Hiscoe ’87 was elevated to CEO after working at Shawmut Design and Construction for 20 years. Throughout his tenure, Shawmut’s revenue grew from $100M to $1.5B. Under his leadership, Shawmut embarked on a complete enterprise transformation. In 2005, it became 100% employee owned and grew the number of women in the workforce to 35%, more than triple the industry standard. Shawmut has been named one of Mogul’s “175 Top Companies for Female Leaders,” “Diversity Champion” by Providence Business News, “Diversity and Inclusion Citizen of the Year” by Procore and “Top Employer to Work for All” by Great Places to Work. An avid cycler, he raises funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He sits on the board of directors for Rebuilding Together and the ACE Mentor Board of Directors.
• Harry Patten ’58 is chairman of the board and CEO of National Land Partners, LLC. He began his career as a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman, but quickly recognized his aptitude for sales and focused on land deals, becoming one of the foremost buyers and sellers of rural and recreational land in America. Over the past 40 years, he has generated more than $1B in sales. He was selected by Fortune Magazine as one of 1987’s 50 Most Fascinating Business People, featured in front page stories in The Wall Street Journal and included in the Who’s Who of American Business Leaders. He received the Horatio Alger Association’s Distinguished American Award in 2011. In addition to UNH, he supports High Hopes for Haiti, Junior Achievement,  Massachusetts General Hospital and the Cornerstone Society of Southeastern Guide Dogs.  Selection for the UNH Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame is based upon alumni who (a) have achieved entrepreneurial success with ventures as a founder, co-founder, or owner, and (b) have given back to the community in a meaningful way. The definition of “ventures” includes economic or social value in for-profit and non-profit entities. 

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 mind-set who can see opportunities and identify creative solutions others have missed, one idea at a time. 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. 

The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. As one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and receives more than $110 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.
 

PHOTOS FOR DOWNLOAD:
Christine Dodson: https://www.unh.edu/assets/unh/aaf/images/email/newsletters/unhtoday/9_2019christine-dodson-cropped-7404_crop.jpg
Joe Faro: https://www.unh.edu/assets/unh/aaf/images/email/newsletters/unhtoday/9_2019joe-faro-cropped-9364_crop.jpg
Thomas Hazel: https://www.unh.edu/assets/unh/aaf/images/email/newsletters/unhtoday/9_2019thomas-hazel-headshot---color-9989_crop.jpg
Les Hiscoe: https://www.unh.edu/assets/unh/aaf/images/email/newsletters/unhtoday/9_2019les-hiscoe-cropped-136_crop.jpg
Harry Patten: https://www.unh.edu/assets/unh/aaf/images/email/newsletters/unhtoday/9_2019harry-patten-cropped-8165_crop.jpg