Entrepreneurial Studies - Sawyer School of Management

Advisory Board

The following individuals are members because they have valuable knowledge gained from experience and success in the entrepreneurial field, and because they are committed to helping our students and alumni succeed in the fast-moving world of entrepreneurial activity. They guide our programs as we continue to stay ahead of the pack; and they guide our clients as they succeed in their new ventures.

Mr. Robert J. Creeden is a partner at Egan-Managed Capital. Prior to joining Egan-Managed Capital Mr. Creeden was senior Vice President of Massachusetts Technology Development Corp., and was responsible for recommending and managing investments in new and existing portfolio companies. He is a member of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Venture Forum having served previously as Chairman. He is former co-host of the WPI Venture Forum radio show on WTAG in Worcester. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Technology Capital Network which is affiliated with the MIT Enterprise Forum.

Mr. Bruce Daniels is Vice President/Team Leader at Citizens Bank of Massachusetts (formerly State Street Bank and Trust Company). Mr. Daniels works primarily with privately held middle market manufacturers, distributors and service companies to provide customized senior debt financing packages as well as a full range of traditional commercial banking products. Mr. Daniel began his career in 1980 at Hannaford Bros. Co., a Maine-based grocery retailer/wholesaler. He also sits on the advisory board of the Marathon Investment Partners.

Mr. Gary S. Farkes is President of Ulysses, Inc. Mr. Farkes started Ulysses in 1978 in the spare room of an apartment and grew it to its present preeminence in the chemical import and supply markets. Located in Boston, Ulysses is redefining its approach to marketing its worldwide services to take advantage of changes in information and production technologies.

Mr. William P. Galatis is a 1975 graduate of Suffolk University and President and CEO of Watermark Donut Company. Watermark owns 44 coffee shops in downtown and Greater Boston and is the largest Dunkin' Donuts franchise in the US with 1998 sales of $23 million. Mr. Galatis also sits on various Franchise Leadership Councils. Prior to starting Watermark, Mr. Galatis was Vice President and CFO of West Lynn Creamery from 1988 to 1991, Controller at Wang Labs from 1984 to 1988 and General Manager of XTRA Corp. from 1981 to 1984. Mr. Galatis began his career at Coopers & Lybrand.

Mr. John Humphrey is Chairman and cofounder of The Forum Corporation. Mr. Humphrey is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on human resource development. He consults extensively with senior executives, helping to mobilize employees on core issues such as leadership, customer focus and dealing with rapid change. Prior to Forum, Mr. Humphrey founded Sterling Educational Network and the Sterling Institute. He has served as managing director of the Behavioral Science Center, first chairman of the board of governors of the American Society for Training and Development. In addition Mr. Humphrey founded and served as first president of the Instructional Systems Associates. He is also chairman of Nelson Metal Products, Corp. For nine years he was chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Ballet.

Mr. Andre Jasse, has served for the past ten years as Chairman and CEO of Brown, Rudnick, Freed and Gesmer, a law firm of 200 professionals with offices in Boston, Providence. Hartford. London and Belgium. Prior to becoming Chairman, he served for fifteen years as a part-time Managing Partner while practicing corporate, securities and banking law for the firm. He is a Trustee, a member of the Executive Committee and Compensation Committee of Eastern Bank Corp. and a Director of its principal subsidiary, Eastern Bank.

Mr. William Keene is President and owner of the Edson Corporation, a 141 year old manufacturer of recreational marine hardware, marina pump-out systems and industrial pumps. He is on the National Association of Marine Products and Services, Sail America and The New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Mr. Thomas S. Kurz is Founder and Chief Managing Director of ThoughtDynamic, and early stage venture capital management firm headquartered in New York City. Mr. Kurz and his team have developed a unique and proprietary approach to filtering deal flow and partnering with young private companies. Mr. Kurz is actively developing and securing relationships with various research centers, think tanks, entrepreneurs and harvest partners. Previously Mr. Kurz co-founded Stamford based Eagle Financial Partners, LLC (EFP). Companies funded inclued Eureka Broadband Corporation, Sportshuddle.com and Rheingold Breweries.

Mr. Peter G. LeVine is President of Peter LeVine Associates, Inc. Professional Reference Checking, one of the first dedicated reference checking services in the country. Established in 1977, it serves business and industry in the United States and Internationally. Mr. LeVine has been featured in numerous news articles, has spoken at various conferences and addressed many organizations over the past twenty years. Mr LeVine has authored many articles on the subject of reference checking, and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Management at Suffolk University.

Dr. Mark V. Parish is founder and Chairman of Specific Surface Corp. SSC designs and manufactures compact industrial ceramic filters using state-of-the-art technologies developed while Dr. parish was obtaining his doctorate in materials science from MIT. Prior to founding SSC, Dr. Parish founded CeraNova Corp., a materials research and development company that exploits novel processing procedures for advanced ceramic materials. Prior to CeraNova, Dr. Parish was founder and manager of CPS Superconductor Corp. He was also one of the founders of Ceramics Process Systems, the parent of CPS Superconductor. Dr. Parish is Chairman of WPI's Venture Forum Program Committee.

Ms. Lynne Poland is founder and president of Lynne Poland Enterprises. LPE is primarily a fund-raising arm for various non-profit ventures of Ms. Poland's. Ms. Poland is also founder of The Haven, a non-profit home for children who have been victims of sexual abuse. She has been featured in Boston and Smoke magazines as one of the region's rising young entrepreneur.

Mr. Earl Zimmerman is CFO and Administrative Officer for Interlink Internet Business Solutions. Interlink is a B2B Company specializing in web technology and development, and provides IT outsourcing solutions to their clients. Most recently he was Senior Audit Manager for Grant, Thornton. He graduated from Suffolk University in 1982 with a degree in accounting and has worked for Ernst & Young and Arthur Anderson.