Fostering entrepreneurship at Cornell not only includes courses, lectures and other events in Ithaca, but also a national network of alumni entrepreneurs, many of whom offer presentations and networking opportunities for other Cornellians in nine cities through the Cornell Entrepreneur Network (CEN).

CEN -- available free to the entire Cornell community -- also allows members virtual networking opportunities. Members can search for fellow Cornellians with similar business interests, gain access to CEN member profiles or post a specific query on the Web site's "Open Mike Online."

Since its inception in 2001, more than 8,000 members have joined, and CEN events have attracted more than 12,000 Cornell registrants, according to its Web site at https://cen.cornell.edu/new_user.php.

"CEN has helped me so much," says Ann Wang '93, a financial adviser with Garrison Swartz Merrill Lynch-Global Private Client Group in San Francisco. "I've gotten three clients so far [through it]. I've also met several Cornell alumni that I continue to build relationships with. ... I owe much of my initial success directly to [CEN]."

CEN is funded by Rob and Terry Ryan, both Cornell Class of 1969, who founded Ascend Communications in 1989, which was sold to Lucent in 1999.