Lawrence Today - Lawrence University

Left to right: Marty Finkler, John R. Kimberly Distinguished Professor in the American Economic System, healthcare entrepreneur Abir Sen ’97,
Suzie Kramer ’10 and Nico Staple ’10 discuss a case study on one of Sen’s companies as part of Lawrence’s Entrepreneurship and Finance course.
As the various pieces continue to fall into place, the Lawrence
I&E program should further distinguish the college among other
institutions of higher education and provide the potential to make
Lawrence more attractive to students and faculty, especially to
those who favor active engagement, creative thinking and societal
involvement.
LayinG the founDation
An important report from the National Academy of Sciences
entitled “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and
Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future” is partly
responsible for Lawrence’s decision to incorporate innovation
and entrepreneurship into its offerings. In this report and its
various offspring (which include the 2007 America Competes
Act), the authors discuss the continued erosion of U.S.
leadership and competitiveness in various fields, and they
make recommendations for countering these trends. When
John Brandenberger, Alice G. Chapman Professor of Physics
Emeritus, became familiar with this report, he began to wonder
how Lawrence might play a part in responding to the report’s
recommendations.
The colleague that Brandenberger first sought out to discuss this
matter was Galambos. It wasn’t long before the course In Pursuit
of Innovation was added to the Lawrence curriculum, co-taught
by Brandenberger and Galambos. Funded in part by a recent grant
from the National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance, this
course prepares Lawrence students to become contributors to
a globally competitive American economy through an early and
sustained immersion in innovation and entrepreneurship. “One of
the points we drive home,” explain Galambos and Brandenberger,
“is that major innovations and successful entrepreneurial efforts
are rarely completed by a single person. Usually it’s a group of
people. In our course, students learn to work effectively in groups
to pursue chosen objectives. The results and achievements
that emerge from such group activities are often very creative,
ambitious and highly rewarding for the students.”
aGents for chanGe
One of the student projects stemming from In Pursuit of
Innovation helped contribute to the enhancement of downtown
Appleton. Students approached and eventually partnered with
Harmony Café, a division of Goodwill Industries, to provide
research that supported, among other things, a change in location
as a way to improve business. Harmony Café leadership listened
to the students’ views and moved its operations to east College
Avenue in a location much closer to Lawrence that offered more
space and improved visibility. Business increased, and Harmony
was eager to continue its relationship with Lawrence. This year,
another group of students from the course took on a challenge
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