Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative
The Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative, also known as Entrepreneurship@Rice and REI, is "a collaborative effort of students, professors, mentors and the Houston entrepreneur community to foster innovative entrepreneurial spirit and help launch successful ventures through education, guidance and connections"[1]. The initiative, launched in 2015, is led by Yael Hochberg, Head of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Ralph S. O'Connor Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, who is supported by Dr. Abby Larson, Director of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative[2] [3].
Calendar of Events
The Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative maintains and updates a calendar of campus and city wide events relating to entrepreneurship.
Team
Leadership
- Yael Hochberg, Head of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Ralph S. O'Connor Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship
- Abby Larson, Director of Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and Lecturer in Entrepreneurship
Faculty
- Eric Floyd, Assistant Professor of Accounting
- Haiyang Li, Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation
- Doug Schuler, Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy
- Danielle Supkis-Cheek, Adjunct Professor
- Al Danto, Lecturer in Management – Entrepreneurship & IT
- Michael Evans, President - Evans Consulting, Lecturer
- Aziz Gilani, Director - Mercury Fund, Lecturer in Management
- Tom Kraft, Director Technology Ventures Development - Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Lecturer in Management
- Hesam Panahi, Founder - REDLabs, Clinical Assistant Professor - C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, Part-Time Lecturer in Management
Rice Alliance
- Brad Burke, Managing Director
- Mary Lynn Fernau, Director of Marketing
- Lea Aden Lueck, Director of the Rice Business Plan Competition
- Quynhmai Nguyen, Director of Operations and Event Planning
- Noy Shemer, Program Specialist
- Kerri Smith, Associate Managing Director
Advisors
- Kazimir Karwowski, Executive Director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership
- Amy Kavalewitz, Associate Director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership
- Maria Oden, Director, Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen
- Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Director, Rice 360°: Institute for Global Health Technologies, Director, Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering
Website
The website provides resources for faculty and students. A list of undergraduate, graduate, MBA, and EMBA courses relating to entrepreneurship are provided.[4]
FreeStyle
FreeStyle is an offshoot of the Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative designed for students, faculty, and community members to discuss entrepreneurship issues. The program will host speakers and discussions throughout the school year. The first series of speakers will comprise of faculty from Religion, Sociology, and Architecture fields.[5]
Students may enroll in the program for course credit starting with the Spring 2016 semester, although course enrollment is not required to attend lectures and presentations.
Events
The Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative organized its first event on October 22-25, 2015, where students from Rice University and the University of Houston participated in the 3 Day Startup held at TMCx. Rice Launch collaborated with the REI.[6]
