Welcome to the inaugural newsletter of the Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development.
As we prepared this newsletter, I was struck several times by the intensely personal nature of innovation and entrepreneurship. Behind every breakthrough that sets the cycle of change in motion is an individual who belongs to a community that supports, nurtures and challenges.
The college, which was officially established in July, is in its infancy. But it’s built on a solid foundation of relationships, many of which are long-term.
Bright and early on a recent Monday morning, a college career began in a class taught by Dr. Phillip Mulligan, assistant teaching professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who I taught when he was a student at S&T (I’ve been here a long time). The student, Emerald Prude, is the daughter of two S&T graduates who are also former students of mine: Dwan Prude, a process engineer at General Motors, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering management, and his wife, Lachelle, who earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
I attended the baby shower before Emerald’s birth, and her taking a seat in a classroom as a Miner (who will major in engineering management if her father has anything to say about it) reminded me that the students who are at the heart of everything we do are making their own impact as professionals, parents and S&T faculty. Educating and guiding our students is a professional legacy we should all be proud of.
As you’ll learn from the three stories highlighted in this newsletter, the work being done throughout our college has a real impact on real lives. It matters.
