Executives of the Silicon Valley-based firm Wily Technology, Lewis Cirne '93 and David Strohm '70, recently endowed a $1 million scholarship to fund Dartmouth student internships in start-up technology companies.
In their Oct. 20 press release, the two alumni pointed to the College's rural location and relatively small size as they asserted that Dartmouth typically does not enjoy strong links to budding technology markets.
The Wily Fund will be the first Dartmouth scholarship to target entrepreneurship and is atypical among a multitude of existing scholarships for the arts, sciences and humanities. Students studying technology and applied sciences who have an interest in business will be eligible for the Wily Scholarship Fund, which will begin accepting applications in 2007 and defray some of the costs of attending Dartmouth.
The Wily Initiative Fund will subsidize student internships in early-stage technology firms and will also provide means for seminars and symposia on related topics. The fund will also serve as a resource for students to find appropriate firms for internship and job opportunities.
"Along with helping undergraduates, the Wily Funds are intended to further entrepreneurial successes by Dartmouth alumni, and to encourage other Dartmouth entrepreneurs to join together to contribute to this activity," Cirne said.
Cirne added that the scholarship aims to bond Dartmouth to the technological business world in a way that other leading universities attempt to do. Cirne cited Stanford University's relationship with Silicon Valley as an example.
Strohm and Cirne both noted that they were motivated to endow the scholarship in part to build upon the existing Dartmouth alumni network that they feel aided them.
College Provost Barry Scherr lauded the two alumni as he discussed the intersection between science and industry and the fields' entrepreneurial opportunities.
"[Cirne and Strohm] have both done entrepreneurial work in technology themselves and had the notion that for people of this age, entrepreneurship is important," Scherr said. "[Today] there is a greater and greater connection between science and the needs of industry."
Cirne and Strohm gave the gift to Dartmouth through the College's new Start-Up Stock Program, which allows alumni to pledge donations in the form of restricted private stock. The stock is then redeemable if the private company is bought or becomes public. Wily Technology pledged the gift in 2004 and the endowment of the Wily Fund follows its recent purchase by C.A. Technology, Inc.
Peter Glenshaw, director of the Corporate & Venture Initiative in the College's development office, said that Cirne and Strohm have set a precedent of giving for alumni entrepreneurs with this endowment. He hopes the gift will encourage others to follow suit through avenues expanded by the Start-Up Stock Program.
"Certainly one of the goals of the Start-Up Stock Program is to encourage entrepreneurs to think about philanthropy at the beginning of their careers," Glenshaw said.
"All of the Dartmouth employees of Wily have decided to donate to this cause," Glenshaw said of the enthusiasm behind the gift.