Christoph Winkler, Ph.D., Endowed Professor and Founding Director, Reflects on the Successes of the Hynes Institute.
When you look back over the accomplishments of the last year, what makes you most proud?
I am most proud of being able to build a community of students, faculty, staff and alumni to jumpstart the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. We have a physical space; we’re linking students with mentors; and we have very robust co-curricular programming and now 11 courses approved that will all be offered over the next three semesters.
What have you learned about Iona College and the Iona community?
I learned that Iona is driven by a strong sense of mission and a strong sense of attachment to the community. They embraced me as part of the community. People allowed me to assume, rather quickly, an identity of a Gael, a part of Iona. I didn’t expect that to happen so quickly.
Has your view or definition of entrepreneurship changed since you started in your position?
My view of entrepreneurship hasn’t changed, but I do believe that having an entrepreneurship program that is interdisciplinary provides opportunities for all students in both the School of Business and the School of Arts & Science regardless of their major.
What’s next for the Hynes Institute?
We are very proud of the work we did in the first year. This was a year for building. The second year is going to be a year of implementing and trying to grow, which we are doing with a robust curriculum. Our objective is to have an undergraduate minor and major in Entrepreneurship & Innovation available for all students, as well as a graduate certificate. We also want to get the community and alumni involved, to enable us to bridge what’s happening on campus with what’s happening outside of campus. I am looking forward to continuing this important work with our great and growing team.