Volume 13, Number 2, 2005
David J. Freschman, BE ’84, spends his days focused on entrepreneurial ventures as president and CEO of the Delaware Innovation Fund, an early stage venture capital fund that works with businesses in the mid-Atlantic region.
And, so, when Freschman thought about a way to enhance his alma mater’s work in educating future entrepreneurs, he says establishing a scholarship award for top business students seemed natural. The board of directors of his firm agreed, and the Scott K. Jones-Delaware Innovation Fund Entrepreneurial Scholarship Award was created. Two awards, of $1,000 each, are presented each year, one to an undergraduate and one to a graduate student in the Lerner College of Business and Economics.
Freschman says the awards not only recognize talented students who are interested in entrepreneurship, but they also recognize the efforts of Jones, professor of accounting and management information systems. In addition, Freschman says he hopes that establishing the award helps to make all Lerner College students and the community more aware of the University’s programs to foster entrepreneurship.
“We wanted to raise the level of awareness,” he says. “We think the University of Delaware has a lot of great talent in this area, and we want people to recognize that.”
Two years ago, Jones spent a sabbatical working with the Delaware Innovation Fund, in order to learn more about the daily operations of a venture capital firm. Freschman says the business also benefited from Jones’ perspective during that year.
“When he left to go back to the University, we decided to keep the momentum going by creating the scholarship,” Freschman says.
The 2004 recipients of the scholarship award are Christa Baird, BE ’07, and graduate student Kelly Ham, who also is working as an intern this school year at the Delaware Innovation Fund. Both students submitted an essay about entrepreneurship in applying for the scholarship.
Baird, who has a concentration in marketing, says she wants to work in a family real estate business after graduation and, later, to open her own company. She says the scholarship has helped her a great deal financially.
Ham, who is pursuing her master’s degree in business administration, is especially interested in venture capital and new business creation. “The idea of taking a technology or business concept from its infant stages to a viable company is an exciting and rewarding challenge,” she says.
Freschman says one reason to encourage entrepreneurship is that career paths have changed in recent years, and young people are seeking more responsibility and control than many traditional, entry-level jobs provide. “The future is not in big companies, and people are coming to realize this,” he says.
Freschman received the Lerner College’s Alumni Award of Excellence this year (See HomeWord section) and, in 2003, was awarded the UD Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement.