Purdue News
Purdue News
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August 29, 2002 Morgan, foundation honored at entrepreneurship celebrationWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University and its Krannert School of Management will celebrate entrepreneurship's future home on campus during a 10:30 a.m. event on Sept. 23 in the Elliott Hall of Music.
The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, which has supported the private enterprise system for 35 years, will fund the center that will be built in Purdue's new $100 million Discovery Park. The $7 million, 31,000-square-foot building will be a two-story facility designed to connect with overhead walkways to future adjacent Discovery Park buildings. The center will include a 72-seat lecture room, a presentation room and several conference and break-out rooms for use by park occupants. Construction on the center is scheduled to begin before the end of this year. "The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship will create opportunities to educate students, faculty and staff in ways to bring research to the marketplace," said Purdue President Martin C. Jischke. "The center will add an important new dimension to our many initiatives in entrepreneurism and will strengthen the link between Purdue and Indiana's economy." John V. Frank, president of the Morgan Foundation, said he is pleased to be part of this effort. "Purdue is committed to using entrepreneurism as the engine not only to make research into reality but also to educate, inspire and create a new generation of entrepreneurs," he said. The Burton D. Morgan Foundation was established by Morgan, a Purdue alumnus who now lives in Hudson, Ohio. He received his Purdue degree in mechanical engineering in 1938. In 1992 the university awarded him an honorary doctorate in management. "Purdue engineers have a proud history of entrepreneurial success," Morgan said. "The new center will take that success to a new level." Known for his entrepreneurism, Morgan started 50 companies, six of which have become major corporations, including Morgan Adhesives, one of the world's largest makers of pressure-sensitive adhesives. He also is president of Basic Search Co., an idea-development firm, and has written several books on entrepreneurism. Morgan began sponsorship of the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition at Purdue in 1987 to help Purdue students develop an appreciation of the free market system and the role of the entrepreneur in a market economy. He also established an endowment for the Krannert School, now valued at more than $4.1 million. Richard A. Cosier, dean of the Krannert School of Management and Leeds Professor of Management, is director of the entrepreneurship center. Cosier said, "With the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition and other initiatives at the entrepreneurship center, we are nurturing an entrepreneurial culture at Purdue not only for our students but also for our professors." The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship will be home to: • The Technology Transfer Initiative, which will assist faculty who research issues industry encounters when trying to license and market new technologies and products. As part of the initiative, the Innovation Realization Lab pairs engineering and management graduate students on projects to help them understand the way research fits in with social and commercial needs. It also will help faculty design courses to teach entrepreneurship. • The Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition, in which Purdue and management students work together to demonstrate their business plans for new products or services and show how they could be developed into profitable businesses. • A portion of the Purdue Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program, in which undergraduates work with community service agencies to find ways to use technology to solve problems and improve services. • The New Ventures Laboratory, which will allow entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to visit campus and conduct workshops and also will provide students with the opportunity to administer a venture fund investing in new technologies. Goody Clancy and Associates of Boston will provide design, architectural and engineering services. The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship is one four major centers planned for the Discovery Park complex. The research park also will include the Birck Nanotechnology Center, a bioscience/engineering center and an e-enterprises center for researchers and students in fields including electrical engineering, computer science, biology, economics and management. Writer: J.M. Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu Sources: Martin C. Jischke, (765) 494-9708 John V. Frank, (330) 258-6512 Richard A. Cosier, (765) 494-4366, rcosier@mgmt.purdue.edu NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: B-roll video of the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition is available by contacting Jesica Webb at (765) 494-2079, jwebb@purdue.edu. Related Web site: PHOTO CAPTION: The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship is one of four centers planned for Purdue's Discovery Park, which will be located west of the university's central campus. Also at Discovery Park will be the Birck Nanotechnology Center, a bioscience/engineering center and an e-enterprise center. A publication-quality photograph is available at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/morgan.entcenter.jpeg.
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