INNOVATING SINCE 2001
In 2001, a generous gift from Bob Skandalaris established the Skandalaris Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) within the Center for Experiential Learning in the Olin Business School. Two years later, then Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, the late Vice-Chancellor for Students James McLeod, Professor C-P Yin, and SEP Director Ken Harrington received funding from the Kauffman Foundation to expand the program into a full, cross-campus initiative as the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Additional Gifts from the Skandalaris Family and other generous donors continued to fuel the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In 2014, the Center took on its current name – the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship – to reflect the University’s additional focus on innovation. That same year, Emre Toker was named Managing Director of the Center. In 2016, the Center moved to its new, innovative space in Mallinckrodt (Danforth Campus) which was intentionally designed to inspire creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in an interdisciplinary environment, independent of any university school and open to everyone. The Center’s current Managing Director, II Luscri, began his tenure in 2018 and concurrently serves as the University’s Assistant Vice Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 2018 also marks the year the Center opened a physical location in the North Building at the University’s Medical School Campus.
Washington University in St. Louis’ entrepreneurship program has been consistently rated among the best entrepreneurship programs by Princeton Review / Entrepreneur Magazine. More than 1,000 startups have worked with the Skandalaris Center, and we look forward to supporting many more in the years to come.