University Innovation Fellows plan to spread entrepreneurship across JMU

The University Innovation Fellows are on a mission to make JMU something truly superb on a national level.

“You put a bunch of economics majors in a room, and you’ll get a good solution. You put a bunch of people from different majors in a room, and you’ll get a great solution,” said Chris Ashley, a sophomore finance major, to President JonathanAlger and his wife, Mary Ann Alger.

After evaluating the entrepreneurial landscape at JMU, the Fellows found that entrepreneurial resources exist on campus, but they aren’t as accessible as they want them to be.

The Fellows came up with four priorities, to create cross-disciplinary collaboration, establish hubs and entities for entrepreneurship on campus, create outlets to learn through experience and create a culture of entrepreneurship. They presented them in a strategic plan to President Alger and his wife at the University Innovation Fellows Pinning Ceremony on Monday, April 20.

The Fellows discussed their work this semester spreading entrepreneurship across campus through Bluestone Hacks, MadX Labs and helping their faculty advisor, Nick Swayne, with innovative classes. They also introduced their current initiative JMU X-Labs, which will provide spaces for students, faculty and the community to collaborate and innovate.

Following the presentation, the Fellows were pinned by President Alger and his wife to recognize the completion of their training as Fellows.

The JMU University Innovation Fellows are Andrew Carlone, Chris Ashley, Emily Platt, Jack O’Neill and Timothy Moore.

The University Innovation Fellows Program is a national movement that empowers students to become agents of change at their schools. The program is run by Epicenter, and funded by the National Science foundation as a partnership between Stanford University and VentureWell.

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