Director of Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship

Director Of The Halloran Lab For Entrepreneurship

As Colby College emerges as a destination for intellectual innovation, the College invites applications for the role of Director of the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship, a visionary leader who will guide the Lab's strategic direction, strengthen Colby's position as a national leader in liberal arts entrepreneurship education, and continue to build a first-of-its-kind innovation ecosystem in Maine. The Director will oversee the strategic direction of the Lab, develop innovative programming, cultivate high-level partnerships, manage Lab fundraising and alumni engagement, and steward the Lab's Advisory Board.

The Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship was established in 2021 with generous funding from Trustee Emeritus Todd Halloran, and since that time has grown to encompass an array of opportunities for student mentorship, experiential learning, and venture support with increased funding and lab staffing. The Halloran Lab is a part of the Colby Labs ecosystem. Colby Labs are investments in multidisciplinary programs and partnerships across traditional academic boundaries that open paths to scholarship and intellectual networking to spur advances where our graduates will have the most impact. These cross-disciplinary labs focus on pressing challenges and provide students with immersive research, internships, and employment with a diverse range of strategic partners. Additionally, Colby College is home to the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence (DAI). The Institute is the first cross-disciplinary institute for AI at a liberal arts college. The Institute partners with the Colby Labs to prepare students for a future where AI is transforming industries and careers as well as modes of discovery and creativity.

The Colby Labs and Davis AI will be housed in a newly constructed innovation center, with a planned opening in Fall 2027, to allow collaborative engagement for students to be inspired, bold and innovative in the ways their liberal arts education can help them pursue impactful projects.

The new innovation center comes to Colby College at a time of remarkable and transformative investments across areas including creativity and innovation in the arts with a newly opened Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, significant new investments in a campus computational center, and major new investments in the sciences and applied sciences that represent new opportunities for student engagement with entrepreneurship in science and technology. Beyond campus, the College is making significant investments in Waterville that are making it an attractive home for innovators with a growing entrepreneurship ecosystem and a new state-wide high performance computing hub located in Waterville.

The Director will report to the Provost of the College and work in collaboration with The Halloran Lab deputy director and staff, other lab directors, faculty, staff, students, alumni, senior leadership, and external partners to advance the Lab's mission and impact.

The successful candidate will share our vision for the unique and innovative ways that entrepreneurship can be embedded in an undergraduate liberal arts institution. Centrally, the successful candidate will thoughtfully engage with students, staff, faculty and an active network of off campus partners and mentors to ensure that students from across the College can benefit from Halloran Lab programming to support their goals.

The ideal candidate will have accumulated a set of experiences that make them effective and passionate about guiding and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities :

Strategic Leadership & Innovation :

• Develop and regularly update a multi-year strategic plan for the Lab, including clear objectives, milestones, and measures of success.
• Champion Colby's liberal arts approach to entrepreneurship by emphasizing ethical leadership, social impact, environmental responsibility, economic development, and the cultivation of an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Lead efforts to secure external validation for the Lab's programs through fundraising, media coverage and partnerships with local, regional and national entrepreneurship organizations.

Entrepreneurship Opportunities in the Liberal Arts :

Venture & Student Support :

Institutional Collaboration :

Community & Economic Development :

Operational Management :

Expansive Student Access :

Qualifications :

Key Relationships :

Reporting to the Provost, the director will collaborate closely with the Deputy Director and Assistant Director of the lab, with Lab-affiliated faculty, students, staff, mentors, alumni, parents, the Lab's Advisory Board, and external innovation ecosystem partners.

Working Conditions / Physical Requirements :

General open office and campus environment. Position involves sitting, although frequent movement is necessary. Computer usage involving repetitive hand / wrist motion is also necessary. Must be able to work additional hours during busy periods, including evenings. Ability to interact with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and external constituencies regularly is crucial.

Conditions of Employment :

Successful and satisfactory completion of a background check (including a criminal records check).