Advisors
William Dougan, Head Advisor
William L. Dougan is currently a Professor of Management in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, where he teaches classes in venture planning and management of technology. He provides instruction in the Business Plan Bootcamp program, delivered through UWW Business Outreach and also works with WiSys to develop intellectual properties that are a part of their portfolio. He recently served as a judge in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest. His recent publications have appeared in the Journal of High Technology Management, Management Decision, the International Journal of Public Administration, Small Group Research and The Handbook of Public Information Systems. He received his Ph.D. from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.
Debra Malewicki, Advisor
Debra Malewicki is on the Management faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where she teaches both marketing and management courses with a focus on entrepreneurship. Prior to that, for over 20 years, she led a number of innovative programs dedicated to assisting existing and aspiring entrepreneurs. From 2006 to 2007, she served as interim state director of the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center system and as managing director of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network, two organizations dedicated to helping Wisconsin small businesses start and grow. While the Wisconsin SBDC has been serving businesses for over 25 years, WEN was a newly-funded initiative intended to integrate the many diverse organizations serving entrepreneurs into one solution-oriented network.
Debra was the director of the Center for Innovation and Business Development at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for 3 years, which oversees the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center and the Small Business Development Center, but led the Innovation Center and other technology programs for about 15 years prior to that. WISC, which helps companies make more profitable new product and market decisions, grew significantly under her lead, changing from an independent inventor program to a manufacturer support program while leveraging very diverse funding sources and forging relationships with diverse partners across the nation, including universities, federal labs, technical colleges, and private companies. WISC is one of the few non-profit programs offering entrepreneurial support that is self-sustaining from program revenue.
She has personally worked with over 3,000 entrepreneurial companies on business, new market and product development planning.
She holds a Ph.D. in marketing and entrepreneurship from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has a research interest in entrepreneurial networking.
Jeff Vanevenhoven, Advisor
Jeff Vanevenhoven, Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor in Management at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He received his PhD in Organizations and Strategic Management, a M.S. in Management (eBusiness), and BS degree in Anthropology (Archaeology) from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Jeff has served as the faculty advisor for the Collegiate Entrepreneur’s Organization (CEO) chapter, the Sigma Iota Epsilon (SIE, Management Honour Society) chapter, and the UWW Hurling Club. His primary teaching interests are Strategic Management, Organizational Theory and Entrepreneurship. He currently teaches Administrative Policy, graduate Organizational Theory, and an annual travel-study course to Ireland. Jeff has created and is experimenting with a sustainability/water focus for one section of Administrative Policy. He serves as co-chair of the Principles for Responsible Management Education Travel Study Working Group, and is an active member of the UW-W College of Business and Economics International Committee.
Kirsten Crossgrove, Advisor
Kirsten Crossgrove is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Program Coordinator for the Integrated Science & Business Major at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She teaches courses in Genetics, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, as well as sections of the non-majors Biological Foundations course. She actively involves students in her research on the molecular control of development in parasitic and free-living nematodes (roundworms), and has assisted with student projects using DNA analysis to look at things as varied as forensic analysis of hair and genotyping of marmots. Recent publications have appeared in CBE-Life Sciences Education and Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylania and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Molecular Parasitology Group at New England Biolabs, Inc.
