“There is nothing more fitting—nor more moving to me— than to have Charlie’s name and continuing support attached to the program he helped create.” — Professor Andrew Hargadon, faculty director and founder of the Center for Entrepreneurship, and the first recipient of the Charles J. Soderquist Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship
Trailblazing Gift “Although I did not have the good fortune to know Mr. Soderquist personally, I am grateful for his many years of dedication to UC Davis,” Chancellor Linda Katehi said. “Philanthropic support, like that from the Soderquist estate, is critical to the growth of programs and helps to move us even higher within the top tier of the nation’s public research universities.” Dean Steven Currall said this gift will contribute to the momentum of the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship. “This is a trailblazing gift that will catapult the center to higher levels of recognition and achievement,” he said. The Center for Entrepreneurship got its start in winter 2004, when Soderquist, Hargadon and Sacramento-based venture capitalist Scott Lenet co-taught a course that mixed MBA students with graduate students in the life sciences and engineering programs on campus. Students learned under the guidance of experienced entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders. Soderquist shared his experiences in launching new companies, along with his vision for how science and business could mix at UC Davis. “The idea was to create a program that would not just teach entrepreneurship but create entrepreneurs,” said Hargadon. “We felt that UC Davis, with all of its science and engineering talent, could blossom if entrepreneurs helped bring those ideas out of the laboratories and into the broader world.”
Ideas into Action Since then, the center has enrolled more than 40 doctoral candidates in the Business Development Fellows program (a yearlong series of courses and intensive weeklong “boot camps”) and more than 420 national and international participants in its entrepreneurship academies. These scientists and engineers have turned their ideas into action, fostering the development of such innovations as energy-efficient LED street lighting, technology that can turn wastewater
into biodegradable plastics, and designs for highefficiency solar cells, among many other projects. Charlie’s son, Chris Soderquist, a 1998 GSM alumnus, said Hargadon’s successes and position as the first recipient of the chair would make his father proud. “Andy has taken an idea and morphed it into an institution. The Center for Entrepreneurship is unlike any other in the United States,” Chris Soderquist said. “His approach has been very constructive and is having a real impact. My dad’s passion was applied science and hands-on teaching, and Andy has taken that to another level. He is really inspiring and educating the next generation of Charlies.”
‘The Art of Business’ Charles Soderquist often defined entrepreneurship as “the art of business,” and he tirelessly engaged entrepreneurs to replicate themselves. The center married two of his passions: entrepreneurship and UC Davis. Soderquist’s enthusiasm extended from the science, business and investment communities to education, art, literature and the environment. He was a staunch supporter of his alma mater and served as chair of the UC Davis Foundation, a volunteer-led organization that receives private gifts to benefit UC Davis and manages its endowed gift funds and other private assets. He also served as president of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and as an alumni representative to the UC Board of Regents. Hargadon said he only wishes Soderquist could have seen that first class become a program that continues to grow and engage both UC Davis students and scholars from around the world. “There is nothing more fitting —nor more moving to me—than to have Charlie’s name and continuing support attached to the program he helped create,” Hargadon said.
Learn more about the Center for Entrepreneurship @
>> http://entrepreneurship.ucdavis.edu
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