Center for Entrepreneurship: Excellence

2012 Entrepreneur Scholars Program Awarded the 2011 Model Specialty Program Award by the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).

2011 UP Entrepreneur Scholar Kurt Berning wins national E-Scholar Student Consortium Elevator Pitch Competition.

2010 The Center for Entrepreneurship awarded contract from the Portland Development Commission to study the state of entrepreneurship in Portland.

2009 Three of our Entrepreneur Scholars; Jack Cullen, Elysse Egerman, Christian Acuna were finalists of 2009 New Zealand Global Enterprise Experience Competition.

2008 Entrepreneur Scholar alum Nick Tostenrude, along with fellow UP students Dennis Moulton and Sara Derkacht launched EnableMart while in school and earlier this year went through a successful liquidity event via an acquisition by Manufacturers Resource Network.  Today, EnableMart is the worldwide leader in assistive technology. 

2007 UP Entrepreneur Scholar alum Steve Nguyen named top entrepreneur 30 or under in the Asia-Pacific region by BusinessWeek.com

2006 Recipient of a $300,000 Meyer Memorial Trust grant to form a biomedical engineering/ entrepreneurship partnership with Oregon Health and Science University

2005 Recipient of a $149,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation to integrate an entrepreneurship component into the courses offered as part of the University core

2005 For the third consecutive year, Entrepreneur magazine recognized the University of Portland’s entrepreneurship program with a first-tier ranking

2004 Host site of the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (NCEC)

2004 Selected as one of three NASDAQ Centers of Excellence by NCEC

2004 Venture Bowl, National Institute for Entrepreneurship (Dennis Moulton '04, Nick Tostenrude '02, Cristian Dumitru '03, Gabe Trif '03, and Sara Derkacht '04)

2003 Named as the Educational Entrepreneur Program of the Year by Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization

2003 Regional Champions, Students in Free Enterprise

2002 Recipient of the inaugural $100,000 USASBE grant for programs of national significance

2002 UP Entrepreneur Scholar Nick Tostenrude named the North American Collegiate Entrepreneur of the Year by the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards

2002 Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge

2002 U.S. Department of Commerce Student Mentor of the Year

2001 Earned the National Model Specialty Program Award for Entrepreneurship Education, United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE)

1999 Entrepreneur Scholars Program received the Innovation and Creative Education Award from the Academy of Educational Leadership

1999 The University of Portland Center for Entrepreneurship was established through a $1 million endowment by Robert W. Franz