New Initiatives, New Management Mark Wharton Entrepreneurial Center Anniversary
The Wharton Entrepreneurial Center began its 25th anniversary
celebration in November with a kickoff dinner honoring
its founder and major donors.
The Center, the first of its kind in a major business school,
encompasses the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center
— currently headed by Ian C. MacMillan,
George Taylor Professor of Entrepreneurial
Studies — and the Goergen Entrepreneurial
Management Program, funded in 1997 with a
$10 million gift from Robert B. Goergen,
WG’62, chairman and CEO of Blyth Industries.
The Nov. 11 dinner honored three people:
Center founder Edward B. Shils, W’36;
Philadelphia entrepreneur Ed Snider, who endowed the center
in 1985 in memory of his father, Sol C. Snider; and
Goergen. Preceding the dinner was this year’s first Stolaroff
lecture featuring Hubert J.P. Schoemaker, chairman and co-founder
of biotechnology firm Centocor, Inc.
Among the events in this 25th anniversary year is the
pilot program for the School’s Business Plan Competition
and Entrepreneurial Coaching Initiative. The top prize of
$25,000 has already inspired entries from more than 175 student
teams. Throughout the year, the Coaching Initiative will
be developing seminars and one-on-one mentoring for student
teams participating in the competition. Wharton
alumni who would like to mentor entrepreneurial teams
should call the office of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs
at 215.898.4856.
The anniversary year also marks the arrival of Mark Dane
Fraga as managing director of Wharton Entrepreneurial
Programs. He will be responsible for managing the Sol C.
Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center, strengthening the
academic program of entrepreneurial courses offered
through the management department under the Goergen
Entrepreneurial Management program, and building a
stronger environment that supports entrepreneurial activity
among students.
Fraga comes from Greater Philadelphia First, the
Philadelphia area’s CEO civic leadership organization,
where he spent four and one-half years as program director
for economic development initiatives. He has a BA in
history from Penn and a master’s degree in modern British
history from Oxford.
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