Dean's Visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship

Inaugurated in 2007–08, and made possible by the generous support of several Princeton alumni, the Dean's Visiting Professorship in Entrepreneurship is a key element of Princeton’s broadening scope of entrepreneurship education in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. In this inaugural year, the professorship was held by Julian Lange ’65, the Governor Craig R. Benson Professor of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy at Babson College.

Professors Ed Zschau '61 (left) and Julian Lange '65, Dean’s Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship. (Photo: Frank Wojciechowski)

The goal of this position is to bring a unique and creative educational experience to both undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines. Candidates are selected according to their scholarship and teaching ability, and their track record of innovations and innovative teaching methods as applied to entrepreneurship.

Gordon Bloom holds the position for 2009-10. His course, "A Collaboratory for Social Entrepreneurship (SE Lab)" focuses on the design and development of innovative social ventures -- often technology driven -- addressing major global challenges: poverty alleviation and international development, health and human rights, energy and environmental sustainability, peace and security, education. SE Lab fuses theoretical and practical approaches, offering an overview of social entrepreneurship and parallel development of team-based action projects. Lab participants collaborate, brainstorming idea development, designing innovative, feasible solutions/plans for the problem/opportunity chosen. Classes combine lectures, case discussion, small group workshops.

John Danner was the the Dean's Visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship during the 2008-09 academic year. His course, "Ventures to Address Global Challenges", took an interdisciplinary look at selected global challenges (GCs) from an entrepreneur’s perspective -- designing sustainable venture solutions that could turn challenges into opportunities - rather than that of a policy maker, advocate, researcher or professional service worker in the field. The course examined whether and how challenges like global warming, poverty, education, healthcare, nutrition and housing could be addressed through private sector entrepreneurial initiatives that complemented other, more traditional efforts such as government programs, private philanthropy and corporate social responsibility activities.

Julian Lange, the first to hold the professorship in 2007-08, taught "Managing High Growth Entrepreneurial Ventures", which focused on the opportunities and challenges involved in the management of growth in entrepreneurial settings, both in smaller growing companies and larger corporations. Growth is the ultimate resource constrainer, stretching all systems in a company to the limit and often beyond. The course emphasized management "at the limit" of what students might have already learned in other functional courses. It aimed to provide students with a series of frameworks, analytical skills and techniques, and decision-making tools that could ultimately be used in growing entrepreneurial businesses. The course was p students with interests in one or more of the following areas: (1) growing their own entrepreneurial companies, (2) managing the growth of existing companies in an entrepreneurial fashion by emphasizing innovation and opportunity capture in a dynamic environment, and/or (3) helping companies manage their growth through consulting assignments.