Bay Area Alumni, Supporters Gather for Entrepreneurship Panel

The McCormick School of Engineering and Northwestern University Leadership Circle recently hosted a special event in San Francisco celebrating the University’s achievements in entrepreneurship.

“Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Northwestern” brought together more than 120 friends and supporters of the University on Wednesday, October 3 for a cocktail hour, panel discussion, and networking reception at the Sharon Heights Country Clun in Menlo Park.

Participating in an expert panel were four Northwestern alumni who are making their marks in the entrepreneurial world: Tom Gillis (McCormick ’90), CEO of Bracket Computing; Promod Haque (McCormick ’74, ’76; Kellogg ’83), managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners; Kristin McDonnell (McCormick ’85), an adviser, director, consultant, and investor to startups; and Sam Pullara (Weinberg ’96), software engineer at Twitter and former CEO and cofounder of Bagcheck.

The panel was moderated by James F. Gibbons (McCormick ’53), professor of electrical engineering and the former dean of engineering at Stanford University.

“I’m pleased to be with such a successful group of Northwestern innovators on the West Coast,” said McCormick Dean Julio M. Ottino, who presented welcoming remarks at the event. “Entrepreneurship is a central part of McCormick’s philosophy, and the individuals in this room today have in many ways paved the way for our students’ successes today.”

Preceding the event was the Annual Walter P. Murphy Society Meeting, at which Murphy Society members learned about new McCormick initiative and shared thoughts on proposals from faculty and students.