Haas School alumnus and technology entrepreneur André Marquis, MBA 96, has been appointed as the new executive director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Dean Rich Lyons announced on July 22. Marquis will start his new position on August 9, 2010.
"André is the right person to make entrepreneurship at Haas unequalled anywhere," said Dean Lyons in announcing the appointment. "He hums with energy — vision to spare and all the intensity to see it through. We're fortunate to have him join our team."
Marquis graduated from the Berkeley MBA program in 1996, after co-founding Cybergold, an internet advertising company that later went public and ultimately was acquired by MyPoints. He subsequently started and served in executive positions for several innovative technology ventures, including three in information technology and two in pharmaceuticals. Most recently he served as the senior vice president of sales and marketing at the neuromarketing company Innerscope Research in Boston, Mass.
"It's great to come back and feel the brilliance and energy in this place that taught me so much about how to be a successful entrepreneur," said Andre Marquis. "Entrepreneurship at its core is focusing incredible talent on solving important problems. Our world faces important problems and, fortunately, the pace of innovation has never been faster."
At Haas, André was one of the founders in 1996 of Incubator, Inc, the precursor of the current Berkeley Entrepreneurship Laboratory. On occasion, he shared his expertise in the classroom, including in the MBA class Marketing in the Digital Age and the Venture Capital Executive Program. He also served as the president of the Haas Alumni Network in 1998-99 and won the Raymond E. Miles Volunteer Service Award in 1999.
"Andre’s the ideal mix of entrepreneur, CEO, professor, and rainmaker. His work with the Haas Alumni association, his Haas teaching background, and his connections to the high-tech and biotech markets uniquely qualify him for this leadership role," said his classmate Kevin Brown, MBA 96, CEO of Coraid Inc., who served on the search committee. "Most importantly, Andre is an incredible role model for the students and I expect his office hours will be very busy."
Marquis’ experience includes both startups and corporate entrepreneurship. His executive roles have also included chief marketing officer and founder of Accept.com in San Francisco, Calif., which was later acquired by Amazon.com; senior vice president for marketing and product development and chief technology officer at the public company iPIX in Palo Alto, Calif. (formerly bamboo.com); vice president of business development at timeBLASTER Corporation in Boston, Mass.; COO and founder of Chorus Business Unit at Eli Lilly and Company in Palo Alto, Calif.; and CEO and founder of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals in Palo Alto, Calif.
"I relish the opportunity to continue to concentrate and scale this institution's ability to create innovative leaders and engage the amazing talent on this campus, in this community and across the business world to make a difference," added Marquis.
Marquis will succeed David Charron, who served as interim executive director of the Lester Center during the last year and has recently accepted new responsibilities as the executive director of theschool-wide Berkeley Innovative Leader Development (BILD) initiative. BILD is the new innovative leadership content of the Haas School’s curriculum that will be rolled out this fall.