Sandra Tran ('12) and Gilbert Welsford ('12)

When Sandra Tran ('12) completed a successful undergraduate internship at Duke University Hospital in 2010, the university marketing team changed their internship to incorporate Tran's entrepreneurial ideas. At JMU, Tran used her undergraduate experience as a marketing major and biology minor to redefine personal leadership, hone organizational skills and embrace an entrepreneurial spirit. In 2009, Tran and Dan Smolkin ('11) initiated JMUTeach, an experimental program that allows students to propose, initiate and facilitate their own classes to create a more meaningful Madison Experience. That same academic year, Tran also founded Madison Advising Peers, a program in which undergraduates counsel peers who are planning their JMU courses and student life experiences. Tran also volunteered with SafeRides, a student-run nonprofit organization founded to prevent students from driving under the influence. She served as the financial director and was soon elected to executive director. During JMUTeach's first year, Tran led a four-person JMUTeach Executive Board and the 21-person advisory board for SafeRides, simultaneously. Under her leadership, SafeRides Inc., won JMU's Outstanding Student Organization of the Year. After graduation, Tran continued on the entrepreneurial path and created the Nicrecream Factory in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Her company uses local farmer's market fresh ingredients and freezes ice cream on the spot with liquid nitrogen. Tran's mission is to change the way people eat dessert, specifically delicious gourment ice cream. Along with classmate Gilbert Welsford ('12), Tran's passion for starting a business and her love for food have become a merging success.

If you love sweet summer treats, something to take the hot out of summer, and something scrumptious to satisfy the palate, you'll love what Sandra Tran ('12) and Gilbert Welsford ('12) have concocted.

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