Finalist

Entrepreneurial University of the Year Award

Iowa State University

Finalist of the Entrepreneurial University of the Year Award

Iowa State University - United States

"Innovation in Action | Start Something at Iowa State!"


Engage on social media

@ISU_JPEC
(Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship Twitter)
http://www.linkedin.com/company/isu-pappajohn-center-for-entrepreneurship/
(Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/isu_jpec/
(Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship Instagram)
http://www.facebook.com/isuentrepreneurship/
(Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship Facebook)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@isupappajohncenterforentre6247
(Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship YouTube)
https://www.facebook.com/IvyIowaState
(Iowa State Ivy College of Business Facebook)
https://www.instagram.com/ivyiowastate/
(Iowa State Ivy College of Business Instagram)
https://www.linkedin.com/school/ivyiowastate/
(Iowa State Ivy College of Business LinkedIn)
https://www.instagram.com/iowastateu/
(Iowa State University Instagram)
https://www.facebook.com/IowaStateU
(Iowa State University Facebook)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/isunewsservice
(Iowa State University YouTube)

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The Award Ceremony for this entry (award category "Entrepreneurial University of the Year ") will take place on 27 June 2023, 18:45 to 19:45 CEST.

Summary

Iowa State University's vision to educate, innovate, and improve the quality of life across Iowa and the world propels us to create a campus that is a hub of creative and entrepreneurial activity. By embedding innovation and entrepreneurship more deeply into our culture and curriculum, Iowa State is cultivating the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs while responding to the needs of our communities.

Iowa State enlists a truly cross-disciplinary approach, with all seven colleges across campus participating in its comprehensive and robust innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The university's integrated entrepreneurship program consists of academic entrepreneurship courses and degree offerings for undergraduate through Ph.D. students; broad experiential learning; a strong technology commercialization program; startup accelerators for students and faculty; and business assistance services for campus, community, and alumni entrepreneurs.

Iowa State's robust entrepreneurship academic options include an Entrepreneurship Undergraduate Major, a cross-disciplinary Entrepreneurship Minor, Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a Master's in Entrepreneurship, and Ph.D. program in Entrepreneurship.

Iowa State's Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship has led the university's entrepreneurial efforts for nearly three decades. The Center offers pitch and business competitions, internships, challenges, workshops, scholarships, student clubs, entrepreneurial case competitions, and mentoring to foster entrepreneurship and support the creation of new ventures.

Every year, more than 10,000 individuals participate in entrepreneurial programs and courses. Flagship programs include CyBIZ Lab student consulting, CYstarters summer student accelerator, Startup Factory tech startup incubator, Go-To-Market Accelerator, and the Venture Mentoring Service that connects alumni and investors to university startups.

Key People


Judi Eyles
Director
Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship,  Iowa State University



Wendy Wintersteen
President
Iowa State University



David Spalding
Raisbeck Endowed Dean of the Jerry and Debbie Ivy College of Business
also Vice President of Economic Development and Industry Relations,  Iowa State University



Andreas Schwab
Academic Director
Department of Management and Entrepreneurship,  Iowa State Ivy College of Business



Peter Hong
Director
ISU Startup Factory,  Iowa State University



Deidra Schleicher
Chair
Ivy Department of Management and Entrepreneurship,  Iowa State University



Dave Sly
Academic Entrepreneurship Director
College of Engineering,  Iowa State University



Kevin Kimle
Director
College of Agriculture Start Something,  Iowa State University



Linda Niehm
Academic Entrepreneurship Director
College of Human Sciences Start Something,  Iowa State University



Megan Graettinger
Assistant Director of Experiential Programs
Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship,  Iowa State University



Rebecca Runyon
Academic Director
Liberal Arts and Sciences I+E Academy,  Iowa State University



Ana Luz
Academic Entrepreneurship Director
College of Design,  Iowa State University



Alex Andrade
Director
CyBIZ Lab Student Consulting,  Iowa State University



Jim Oliver
Director
Student Innovation Center,  Iowa State University



Jean Walsh
Program Specialist
Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship,  Iowa State University


Images

Day One of the Eight-Day College-by-College Pitch Competition in the Entrepreneurship Hub

CYstarters Summer Accelerator Demo Day and Community Celebration

Global Student Entrepreneur Awards Winner with President Wintersteen and EO Iowa Chair

Iowa State Fair Standing InnOVATION 9 Day Pitch Event with over 150 participants

Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship Staff receiving Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Nasdaq Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

John Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition - Winners Receive Checks from John Pappajohn

Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Partners Building

Iowa State University Student Innovation Center

Student Entrepreneur Presenting Her Business

2023 Pitch Finale Winners of 150+ Student Entrants!

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

John Pappajohn immigrated to Iowa from Greece. At age 16, after his father’s death, John began managing his family’s grocery store. John established his own public life insurance company, and after exiting, started a venture capital firm. In his lifetime, he has been involved in more than 100 startups, 50 IPO’s, and served as a director in more than 40 public companies.

In 1996, John set out on a mission to create and support entrepreneurs in Iowa, establishing five entrepreneurship centers across the state. For the past 25+ years, the Pappajohn Center at Iowa State University has been instrumental in working across disciplines to create a culture that encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, and provide tools and resources necessary for building and improving Iowa’s businesses. Every year, more than 10,000 people participate in courses or programs, and thousands of alumni have seen success through venture creation.

Soon after becoming President, Wendy Wintersteen declared entrepreneurship to be a strategic priority at Iowa State. Under the brands, “Innovate at Iowa State” and “Start Something", the university is now known as a top entrepreneurial university, ranked #11 by the Princeton Review for its undergraduate entrepreneurship program. The Center for Entrepreneurship was awarded the Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers Nasdaq Center for Excellence for large universities, its highest honor, and the institution was recognized as a Model Program by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

We live John Pappajohn’s mission every day, inspired by his positive attitude, passion, entrepreneurial mindset, and incredible success.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

Iowa State made a conscientious decision years ago to embed entrepreneurship across all college disciplines, establishing a broad, but integrated approach to offering entrepreneurship education, providing hands-on learning experiences, sharing resources outside the university to impact others, and creating new ventures that contribute to our economy. We have learned many lessons about creating and supporting entrepreneurs.

Not all startups are created equal. Their path, mindset, timing, or even luck can be vastly different and is why we offer a robust set of training and mentoring programs to support founders. Like a menu, some want an appetizer or dessert, others need the full course. We have learned to be accommodating to help entrepreneurs access the resources they need at the right time, under the right circumstances. This means being flexible and nurturing, but at other times challenging their actions to move them in the right direction.

People matter. Our faculty and staff are knowledgeable, but more importantly, they go above and beyond to support students, staff, faculty, and community entrepreneurs. We know putting together the right leadership team to launch is critically important. Utilizing our vast network, we help founders build a capable team to grow their company. That team might include partners, employees, or interns, but also means helping founders connect to mentors, professional service providers, and industry partners.

Success breeds success. Building an ecosystem where founders Deidconnect, partner, tap resources, and build together, results in an environment that makes people excited about entrepreneurship and navigating the course less intimidating.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

We have ambitious goals to increase the number of start-ups from Iowa State University. A new lunch-and-learn series targeted at scientific graduate students and faculty is intended to provide awareness of the many resources and programs available to launch ventures, including NSF I-Corps, an Innovation Acceleration Fund for commercialization, and all of the start-up programs, accelerators, and mentoring options to guide researchers on the path to venture creation. We have established three new Chief Technology Officer positions that focus on start-up activities around our university strengths in digital and precision agriculture, vaccines and immunotherapeutics, and biosciences. A new venture studio is also in the works.

Iowa State University’s global admissions and recruitment team have begun to take entrepreneurship and innovation faculty and staff across the globe to conduct innovation and entrepreneurship workshops and visit students in many different countries. The message “Innovate at Iowa State” resonates well with prospective global students. The number of admissions to Iowa State University is increasing due to this new global engagement focus.

The next big initiative is establishing a new on-campus entrepreneurship space that will house our growing team, plus a co-working space, training facilities, and event space that will be inviting to students across disciplines and will make it easier for faculty and students to engage with staff, utilize resources, and network with each other. We have outgrown our current Research Park and Student Innovation Center facilities and look forward to creating a more visible and accessible facility for Iowa State entrepreneurs.

KEY STATISTICS

6720

Students taking entrepreneurship courses annually

85

Majors represented by students in the program 2021-22

95

Courses with entrepreneurship across disciplines

77

Percent of 122 CYstarters students still in business or in a startup

$252,500

Invested in student ventures in 2021-22

115

Number of startups launched in Startup Factory accelerator since 2016

$56 million

Amount of capital raised by Startup Factory companies since 2016

2,525

Number of people attending entrepreneurship events in the last year

247

Mentors engaged with entrepreneurship students in 2021-22

677

Ventures started by alumni in past 10 years (those reporting)

$35,852,000

Funding raised by alumni entrepreneurs in past 10 years (those reporting)

1219

Startup clients served in 2021-22

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

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