For immediate release: November 12, 2003
For more information, contact Susan Griffith at 216-368-1004 or susan.griffith@case.edu

CLEVELAND—The innovative thinkers behind Case Western Reserve University's Physics Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) got a jolt of excitement when PEP received the Price Institute Entrepreneurship Educators Award in October at the Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education for Scientists and Engineers at Stanford University.

photo by Susan Griffith Cyrus Taylor, from the Case Western Reserve University physics department and Robert Hisrich from the university's Weatherhead School of Management

For three years, Cyrus Taylor from the College of Arts and Sciences and Robert Hisrich from Weatherhead School of Management have jump started the entrepreneurial batteries of physicists through PEP.

Taylor, who integrated the master's level business program into graduate education in the physics department, said he set out to make PEP a new educational model and already has seen results.

Programs are emerging around the country and are looking to Case for ways to implement a successful science entrepreneurship program.

The program also became the model for other pure science departments at Case to adopt similar programs to help scientists become business leaders in math, statistics, chemistry and biology.

"Getting the award attests to the value of the program. As the program has grown from physics to the other sciences, it continues to be a substantial part of the university," said Hisrich, Case's A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies.

Case and the Georgia Institute of Technology, another award winner, shared the limelight during the second year of the award and during this year's Roundtable meeting of university leaders interested in how educational institutions can train future business leaders.

"PEP demonstrates that a faculty member who is a passionate leader can build an entrepreneurship center within any department at the university," stated Tina Seelig, executive director of Stanford Technology Ventures Program that sponsors the Roundtable. "Physics would not traditionally be thought of as a department to sponsor an entrepreneurship center. However, under the leadership of Cyrus Taylor, it makes complete sense and turns it into a model for the rest of the university."

She also noted that the Roundtables examined a number of entrepreneurship programs that have been inspired by senior administrators at the university, such as Georgia Tech's immersion program that combines entrepreneurship from the schools of medicine, engineering and law.

But PEP is among the programs that came from the grassroots level at the university where "one passionate, charismatic faculty member who believes in the importance of a program," can make a difference, added Seelig.

One of the seed supporters for PEP has been the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance. NCIIA Executive Director Phil Weilerstein shared in excitement about the honor.

"We are very pleased that PEP was recognized by this auspicious group of peers," stated Weilerstein. "The fact that they were chosen from very impressive and entrepreneurial leaders demonstrates the visionary nature of the program that was developed."

With global competitiveness in every aspect of business, Weilerstein elaborated that in the past the intellectual resources of the universities participated little in the development of translating basic research into new ventures and commercial value.

"Programs like PEP are an ideal way to engage that community and begin to educate the leaders of tomorrow," added Weilerstein.

For information about PEP, visit Websites at:http://pep.case.edu, http://sep.case.edu and http://www.weatherhead.case.edu/entp.

About Case Western Reserve University

Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, and service. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dentistry, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Sciences. http://www.case.edu.

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