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Global Entrepreneurship Week | USA
Opening Ceremony

Description:

Massachusetts is clearly one of the premier areas in the world when it comes to entrepreneurship and especially technological entrepreneurship. What better place for a kick-off event for Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) than the City of Boston and the State of Massachusetts? Northeastern University is proud to be hosting an opening event which includes participation from a number of the colleges and universities in the state.

The evening will start with a networking session with light snacks and drinks. Northeastern University President, Joseph Aoun, will then open the formal aspect of the program with an introduction and statement on Northeastern's 50 years of entrepreneurship education. Thom Ruhe, Director of Entrepreneurship from the Kauffman Foundation, will introduce Global Entrepreneurship Week and give a sneak preview of some new data comparing entrepreneurial activity across the United States. Bob Davis, BS’79, the founder of Lycos and General Partner at Highland Capital Partners, will present the keynote address. Subsequent to Mr. Davis's formal presentation, he will address questions from the audience.

For more details and to RSVP, contact A.Baltazar@neu.edu

Agenda

6:30 pm – Cocktails/Networking

7:15 pm – Joseph E. Aoun, President, Northeastern University, General Introduction

7:25 pm – Thom Ruhe of the Kaufmann Foundation Introduces Global Entrepreneurship Week

8:00 pm– Keynote talk by Bob Davis, “Entrepreneurship in a Down Economy”

8:30 pm – Audience Questions

9:00 pm – Closing Remarks

Speaker Information:

Joseph E. Aoun
President,
Northeastern University

Joseph E. Aoun, an internationally known scholar in linguistics, is the seventh president of Northeastern University — a preeminent global, experiential, research university. Since his presidency began in August 2006, he has charted an ambitious and distinctive course to advance Northeastern. At the heart of his vision is a commitment to strengthen the University’s leadership position in experiential and cooperative education; create global programs with an urban perspective; foster a research environment where faculty uncover solutions to real-world problems; and build innovative partnerships so that Northeastern can better serve its students, its city, the nation, and the world.

President Aoun is spearheading an innovative model of undergraduate education. Under his leadership, Northeastern expanded its signature cooperative and experiential education program to 88 cities in 46 countries and launched NU Core, the first University-wide general education program, which includes an experiential learning requirement for all students. In July 2008, Princeton Review ranked Northeastern number one in the best career / job placement services category. Further evidence of Northeastern’s advancement under President Aoun’s leadership can be seen in the number of students who now seek admission. In just two years, undergraduate applications rose 32 percent, reaching an all-time high for fall 2008.

 

Thom Ruhe,
Director of Entrepreneurship,
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Thom Ruhe is director of entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In addition to guiding several new initiatives within the foundation, he is leading a joint venture between the Foundation and the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce focused on leveraging America’s entrepreneurial leadership to advance economic growth in the United States and around the world.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Ruhe was the founding Chief Marketing Officer for JumpStart (www.jumpstartinc.org), a nonprofit economic development organization created to accelerate the growth of high-potential, early-stage companies in Northeast Ohio. While there, he and his staff served as adjunct staff to venture financed portfolio companies and directed the creation of an online social networking site for entrepreneurs, angel investors, business mentors and service providers; known as www.IdeaCrossing.org.

Formerly, Ruhe was president of Optiem LLC (www.optiem.com), where he led the growth of a nascent marketing practice to a nationally recognized interactive marketing, communications and public relations agency. Earlier in his career, Ruhe held consultative positions in technology integration, marketing, finance, sales, and management. His experience spans several entrepreneurial endeavors as well as working with Fortune 500 companies.

Ruhe earned his bachelor’s degree in management information systems at Bowling Green State University where he was the recipient of a U.S. Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship.

Ruhe also serves on the board directors of the Holden Arboretum (www.holdenarb.org) the nation’s largest arboreta.

About the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with partners to advance entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and youth. The Kauffman Foundation was established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman. Information about the Kauffman Foundation is available at www.kauffman.org

 

Bob Davis,
General Partner, Highland Capital Partners

Bob is a General Partner at Highland focusing primarily on digital media and the internet and has been with our team since 2001. He currently represents Highland on the boards of Bullhorn, Going, Hangout Industries, NameMedia, Paragon Lake, Quattro Wireless and Turbine and previously served on the board of Fastclick (Nasdaq: FSTC) until its successful merger with ValueClick (Nasdaq: VCLK) and Quigo (acquired by AOL). Bob is the best-selling author of "Speed is Life: Street Smart Lessons from the Front Lines of Business (Currency)."

Background
Prior to joining Highland, Bob served as the Chief Executive Officer of Terra Lycos (TRLY) and was responsible for all aspects of the company’s business. Before the October 2000 combination of Terra and Lycos, Bob was the Founder of Lycos, Inc (LCOS) and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer since its inception in 1995. In just five years, Bob led Lycos from a start-up with $2 million in venture capital funding to a multi-billion dollar profitable business. Under his leadership, Lycos jumped from the fastest IPO in Nasdaq history, a mere nine months from inception to offering, to an esteemed member of the Nasdaq 100.

Bob has served on the boards of several public and private sector companies including John Hancock (JHFS), Ticketmaster (TCMS), Terra Lycos (TRLY), Lycos (LCOS) and Lycos Europe (LCY). He also serves as a Trustee for Children’s Hospital Trust Board, The Rivers School and also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Boston College Carroll School of Management and the Northeastern University School of Technological Entrepreneurship.

Bob has advised former President Clinton on matters relating to internet commerce and regulation and has addressed Congress, The United Nations, The National Press Corps and the U.S. Council of Foreign Relations on similar matters.

*roll over video on right and click the play button to begin movie >

Video:
Thom Ruhe,
Director of Entrepreneurship,
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

 

 

 

 

Video:
Bob Davis
Keynote Address
Founder of Lycos,
Partner, Highland Capital Partners

 

 

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