Shulman

Zachary J. Shulman ’87, J.D. ’90, knows a thing or two about successful entrepreneurship. The senior lecturer at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management has had his hand in several startups and helped raise more than $80 million in venture capital funding as general counsel at Spike Broadband Systems and more than $50 million as a managing partner at Ithaca-based Cayuga Venture Fund.

He will now help foster the entrepreneurial spirit of Cornell students, faculty and staff as director of Entrepreneurship@Cornell (E@C), an initiative created in 1992 to promote entrepreneurship education, experiential learning opportunities, programmatic activities and events for the Cornell community.

Shulman, who has been acting as interim director since June 1, will officially take the helm Oct. 16. He replaces John P. Jaquette Jr., who retired this summer after leading the organization for the past 15 years.

“Zach has done a terrific job advancing existing efforts within E@C, and I look forward to working with him to identify new programmatic opportunities,” said Kathryn J. Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who is chair of the E@C governing board.

Thousands of students enrolled in entrepreneurship courses across campus last year, and many also participated in the E@C internship program, the Big Idea competition, the eLab business incubator or popular events such as the annual E@C Celebration on campus each April and the Entrepreneurship Summit, to be held this year in New York City Oct. 11.

E@C also works with the Student Agencies Foundation on eHub, a new entrepreneurship center in Collegetown. It will be home to eLab, Student Agencies Inc. and PopShop (a 24-hour networking and co-working space for student entrepreneurs) and provide office space for E@C and other Cornell organizations that support student entrepreneurship.

Shulman will oversee all of this activity and act as a liaison with the deans that govern E@C and its 70-member advisory council of entrepreneurs, business managers and organization leaders.

“Enabling student success is the essence of E@C, and it is truly a personal passion,” Shulman said. “E@C also critically connects all the nodes of entrepreneurship on campus and allows them to collaborate and expand their entrepreneurship offerings. I know the current staff of E@C very well and look forward to continuing the great success of the office with them.”

A faculty member since 1996, Shulman teaches courses on venture capital and law for startup and high-growth businesses. He was formerly a corporate associate at the Ithaca law firm Harris Beach and the Boston law firm Ropes and Gray.

Stacey Shackford is a writer for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.