Kimberly Jenkins, senior adviser to the president and provost for entrepreneurship and innovation, will leave her position after nearly two years at the helm of Duke’s major entrepreneurship initiatives, according to a Duke News release.
Jenkins, Trinity ’76, will leave the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, after personally developing the program and giving it a stronger presence in the Duke community.
There was no public indication that Jenkins would leave the initiative after spearheading the program.
“We agreed when I started that my role would be to help get this initiative off the ground, weave it into the mission of the University and assemble a team of great people to take it forward,” Jenkins said in the release. “We’re now in a great place and I’m excited to see how everyone at Duke will carry on this work.”
During her tenure, Jenkins oversaw the creation of Duke in Silicon Valley, an entrepreneurship-focused study away program. Student involvement in new ventures also grew with the development of InCube, an entrepreneurship-focused selective living group.
“Kimberly guided our innovation and entrepreneurship programs to a new level of visibility and enthusiasm with students, faculty and alumni, and positioned Duke to take a leadership role nationally,’’ Provost Peter Lange said in the release.
In May, the initiative received a $15 million gift from David Rubenstein, Trinity ’70 and vice chair of the Board of Trustees.
Jenkins and students involved in entrepreneurship were also invited to present to the Board at its May meeting. The meeting marks her third invitation to address the Board in the past 18 months. Robert Calderbank, dean of the natural sciences at Trinity College of Arts and Science, will now take over as interim director of the initiative.
Calderbank, who has 25 patents to his name, plans to lead the initiative with other partners, including Howie Rhee, managing director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Fuqua School of Business, and invite new participants such as Eric Toone, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass professor of chemistry and biochemisty, who also lead to startups.
“There’s so much energy and activity now around entrepreneurship and innovation,” Calderbank said in the release. “We’ve greatly expanded the opportunities for students to learn about this and try it out for themselves.... The wind is behind us and we’re going to keep this moving.”
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