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Moving big ideas into the market

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Andrew Hargadon is the first professor to hold the Charles J. Soderquist Endowed Chair.
Andrew Hargadon is the first professor to hold the Charles J. Soderquist Endowed Chair.

The 嘿嘿视频 Graduate School of Management has $2 million in new seed money to spark entrepreneurship in California, thanks to a gift from the estate of Charles J. Soderquist, a 嘿嘿视频 alumnus who founded and led several dozen high-tech companies in the greater Sacramento area.

Half of the $2 million will establish an endowment to support the management school鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurship, and the rest will be used to create the Charles J. Soderquist Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship.

Soderquist re-ceived his master鈥檚 degree in 1973 and his doctorate in 1978, both from 嘿嘿视频 in environmental chemistry. He died in 2004.

Andrew Harga-don, a professor in the Graduate School of Manage-ment, was chosen as the first Charles J. Soderquist En- dowed Chair. He began serving Nov. 1.

鈥楾railblazing gift鈥

鈥淎lthough I did not have the good fortune to know Mr. Soderquist personally, I am grateful for his many years of dedication to 嘿嘿视频,鈥 Chancellor Linda Katehi said. 鈥淧hilanthropic support, like that from the Soderquist estate, is critical to the growth of programs and helps to move us even higher within the top tier of the nation鈥檚 public research universities.鈥

Steven Currall, dean of the Graduate School of Management, said this gift will contribute to the momentum of the 嘿嘿视频 Center for Entrepreneurship.

鈥淭his is a trailblazing gift that will catapult the center to higher levels of recognition and achievement,鈥 he said.

The Center for Entrepreneurship got its start in the winter of 2004 when Soderquist, Hargadon and Sacramento-based venture capitalist Scott Lenet co-taught a course that mixed Graduate School of Management students with graduate students from the life sciences and engineering program on campus. Students learned under the guidance of experienced entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders. Soderquist shared his experiences in launching new companies, along with his vision for how science and business could mix at 嘿嘿视频.

鈥淭he idea was to create a program that would not just teach entrepreneurship but create entrepreneurs,鈥 said Hargadon, who has served as the center鈥檚 director since its inception. 鈥淲e felt that 嘿嘿视频, with all of its science and engineering talent, could blossom if entrepreneurs helped bring those ideas out of the laboratories and into the broader world.鈥

Ideas into action

Since then, the center has enrolled more than 40 doctoral candidates in the Business Development Fellows program (a yearlong series of courses and intensive weeklong 鈥渂oot camps鈥) and more than 300 national and international participants in its entrepreneurship academies. These scientists and engineers have turned their ideas into action, fostering the development of such innovations as energy-efficient LED street lighting, technology that can turn wastewater into biodegradable plastics, and designs for high-efficiency solar cells, among many other projects.

鈥淐harlie would have been proud to see the Center for Entrepreneurship blossom as it has,鈥 said Chancellor Emeritus Larry Vanderhoef, who counted Soderquist as a close friend and was instrumental in establishing the endowed chair.

鈥淗e was passionate about so many things, including the promise of science and technology to make this world a better place,鈥 Vanderhoef added.

鈥楢rt of business鈥

Soderquist often defined entrepreneurship as 鈥渢he art of business,鈥 and he tirelessly engaged entrepreneurs to replicate themselves. The center married two of his passions 鈥 entrepreneurship and 嘿嘿视频.

Soderquist鈥檚 enthusiasm extended from the science, business and investment communities to education, art, literature and the environment. He was a staunch supporter of his alma mater and served as chair of the 嘿嘿视频 Foundation, a volunteer-led organization that receives private gifts to benefit 嘿嘿视频 and manages its endowed gift funds and other private assets. He also served as president of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and as an alumni representative to the UC Board of Regents.

Hargadon said he only wishes Soderquist could have seen that first class become a program that continues to grow and engage 嘿嘿视频 students and scholars from around the world.

鈥淭here is nothing more fitting 鈥 nor more moving to me 鈥 than to have Charlie鈥檚 name and continuing support attached to the program he helped create,鈥 Hargadon said.

More information about the Entrepreneurship Center: entrepreneurship.ucdavis.edu
 

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Clifton B. Parker, Dateline, (530) 752-1932, cparker@ucdavis.edu

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