Rutgers Creates George F. Farris Chair in Entrepreneurship
Last week, Rutgers Business School Dean Glenn Shafer announced that the school would create a new endowed faculty position, the George F. Farris Chair in Entrepreneurship. According to Shafer, the new position will attract talented professors to Rutgers and support collaborations that will nurture innovation within the school. The George F. Farris Chair in Entrepreneurship will run the newly created Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship Ecosystems, launch programs to support student entrepreneurs, conduct research, connect students and business leaders, and secure grant money for Rutgers.
Shafer said: “Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rutgers Business School aims to recruit an outstanding scholar who combines intellectual leadership in the study of entrepreneurship ecosystems with on-the-ground experience in leading high-tech startup communities.”
In 2011, an anonymous Rutgers donor pledged $27 million in an “18 Chair Challenge.” Usually, the creation of an endowed chair position at Rutgers requires a donation of $3 million. However, the Rutgers donor offered a 1:1 match to other donors, allowing them to create endowed positions with a gift of $1.5 million. The chair in entrepreneurship was made possible by the anonymous donor’s gift and a $1.5 million endowment from the Celia Lipton Farris and Victor W. Farris Foundation.
George F. Farris was a faculty member at Rutgers Business School for 31 years before retiring in 2011. During his time at Rutgers, he served as an acting dean of the Graduate School of Management (which later became Rutgers Business School), and the founding director of the Technology Management Research Center. When he retired from Rutgers, George Farris became the president of the Celia Lipton Farris and Victor W. Farris Foundation, an organization that provides grants in arts and culture, education, research, and health and well being.
