Eight West Virginia University faculty members have been chosen for the inaugural class of the Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Academy Faculty Fellows program, part of a comprehensive cross-campus initiative in entrepreneurship and innovation.
The Fellows, selected by the Office of the Provost, will each create a new course or redesign an existing course.
The IDEA Fellows for 2016-2017 are:
- Cheryl Brown, Division of Resource Management in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
- Jonathan Boyd and Stephen Valentine, Chemistry in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, co-recipients who will jointly design a course.
- Kasi Jackson, Eberly College’s Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.
- Jeffery Moser, Reed College of Media and School of Art and Design in the College of Creative Arts.
- Darko Velichkovski, Music Industry in Creative Arts’ School of Music.
- Elizabeth Vitullo, College of Business and Economics
- Thorsten Wuest, Industrial and Management Systems Engineering in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
Assistant Vice President for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Melinda Walls, who oversees the IDEA Faculty Fellows program, is excited about the opportunities it offers to both faculty and students.
“The faculty members selected as Fellows all proposed dynamic ideas to enage students with innovation, design and entrepreneurship,” said Walls. “I think the courses they offer will be transformative. This program truly demonstrates our commitment to creating new and innovative opportunities for WVU students and to showing our students that—no matter what their major or area of interest—they benefit from developing an entrepreneurial mindset.”
The first class of IDEA Fellows was selected by a rigrous application process open to faculty at all WVU campuses. Fellows will receive a stipend and extensive training and professional development in entrepreneurship, both at WVU and at Babson College in Massachusetts. As a cohort, they will work for the next two years to champion entrepreneurship and innovation across the university.
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CONTACT: Ann Claycomb, Office of the Provost
304.293.9919; Ann.Claycomb@mail.wvu.edu
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