University of Rochester Center for Entrepreneurship

At the University of Rochester, we understand entrepreneurship to mean the transformation of an idea into an enterprise that creates value—economic, social, cultural, or intellectual. More than a discrete set of business skills or practices, entrepreneurship is a calling that can be pursued in many realms of experience and achievement. A core value of American culture, entrepreneurship uniquely combines the visionary and the pragmatic. It requires both individual initiative and knowledge and, through awareness of markets, attention to the needs of others. Entrepreneurship is a way of thinking, an approach to problems, an attribute of mind, and even a trait of character. It is a science and an art; entrepreneurship is a primary way in which a free society grows and improves not only its economy, but its cultural and social life as well.

The Center for Entrepreneurship, launched by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grant awarded to the University in 2003, serves to identify and create new partnerships with students, alumni, local businesses, and non-profit organizations; coordinates and publicizes school-based experiences, including courses and signature programming; informs faculty of grant and bridging fellowship opportunities; and encourages collaboration among the schools engaged in entrepreneurship education at the University of Rochester.