01 Jul IU Ventures bestows 2024 Spirit of Venture Award on Elizabeth Hagerman, Gregg Summerville, and Ted Widlanski
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — IU Ventures, Indiana University’s early-stage venture and angel investment arm, has awarded three individuals—Elizabeth Hagerman, Gregg Summerville, and Ted Widlanski—with the Spirit of Venture Award. The award, which is presented annually in partnership with Bridge Bank, celebrates the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation across the entire IU community.
“Elizabeth, Gregg, and Ted are three of the biggest and best advocates for what we’re doing at IU Ventures,” said Tony Armstrong, president and CEO of IU Ventures. “Through the years we’ve been through some twists and turns and they’ve all hung in with us and supported us in their own unique ways. Each of them has been willing to pitch in any way we’ve needed.”
The Spirit of Venture Awards were presented during the third annual IU Founders and Funders Network Venture Summit, held May 16-17 on the IU Bloomington campus. The awards are given to IU faculty, staff, alumni or student founders and funders, or friends of IU, who have exhibited success in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, provided mentorship and support to IU Founders and Funders, and demonstrated noteworthy philanthropy and service to IU.
Spirit of Venture Award Winner Elizabeth Hagerman
Dr. Hagerman has been on the IU Ventures Investment Committee since 2017. She currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer for UW Health and Executive Director of UW Health’s Isthmus Project, an innovation initiative in partnership with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. She is responsible for operations of the Isthmus Project, which provides a place for UW Health clinicians, staff, School of Medicine a
nd Public Health faculty and others to seek support for their ideas and projects that aim to achieve better health outcomes or to solve problems facing UW Health patients, providers and the health system. Isthmus Project also seeks to work with outside entities or entrepreneurs with innovations that could benefit the health system. Dr. Hagerman earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and both master’s and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering from the University of California-Los Angeles.
Dr. Hagerman’s experience includes a series of industry and academic roles focused on biotechnology, product development and commercialization as well as collaborations between industry and academia. She was most recently the Chief Innovation and Strategy officer at Conexus Indiana, whose mission is to lead innovative collaborations among industry, academic and public partners. Prior to that, Dr. Hagerman served as Vice President of Rose-Hulman Ventures, a leading university model for offering prototyping and product development services to companies while providing engineering internships to undergraduate students. Dr. Hagerman began her career at Baxter Healthcare in the regenerative medicine business with roles in R&D, business development and medical affairs.
“I’m honored to receive this award,” said Dr. Hagerman. “Serving on the IU Ventures investment committee has been so rewarding, learning about new technologies and companies we can support. The experiences working with Tony, the IU Ventures team and the portfolio companies have helped shape my career, and I’m so appreciative for the opportunity to work together.”
Spirit of Venture Award Winner Gregg Summerville
Summerville is a current member of the IU Ventures Board of Directors, joined the IU Angel Network in 2020, regularly supports the advanced diligence on companies, and is an active investor. In 2023 he took the IU Founders and Funders Pledge, pledging a charitable contribution to Indiana University based on future returns of his IU Angel Network portfolio companies. He provides tremendous counsel to IU alumni founders through his IU Angel Network engagement and has been a tremendous advocate for the Network through referrals to potential members on and off campus. 
An Indiana native who earned his BA in zoology from IU in 1969, and his MBA in finance in 1972, Summerville has been engaged with IU Columbus as an advisory board member since 2011 and chaired the board in 2017-18. In addition to the volunteer hours Gregg has devoted to IUPUC, he also has been a member of the IU Foundation Board of Directors since 2004 and chaired the board’s Investment Committee from 2008-14 as well chairing the Finance Committee from 2021 to 2024 Additionally, he and his wife Judy serve as Co-Chairs of the National Board of Advisors for the Eskenazi Museum at IU. They have established themselves as leaders in philanthropy through giving Indiana University countless hours of service, in addition to helping strategically advance many initiatives and supporting multiple IU campaigns. The couple’s combined impact is made clear through the Gregg T. and Judith A. Summerville Endowed Chair in Finance at the Kelley School of Business, the Summerville Family Scholarship at IU Columbus, and countless other initiatives.They were awarded the Partners In Philanthropy in 2018 in recognition of their efforts.
“Few things are as infectious as being around young entrepreneurs with exciting ideas,” said Summerville, about his recent experiences at the third annual IU Founders and Funder Network Venture Summit.
Spirit of Venture Award Winner Ted Widlanski
Dr. Widlanski has served on the IU Ventures Board of Directors and the IU Ventures Board of Directors since inception. He has committed hundreds of hours in support of the mission including on and off campus advocacy and assisting the IU Ventures team in conducting diligence on life science companies in preparation for investment committee presentations. Dr. Widlanski is a professor and associate vice president for engagement in the IU Bloomington College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Chemistry. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University. He subsequently received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1989 under the direction of Jeremy Knowles. Dr. Widlanski began his academic career at IU in the summer of 1989. 
Dr. Widlanski’s research emphasizes an eclectic approach to solving biochemical and biomedical problems using a broad array of chemical approaches. This approach includes the design and evaluation of enzyme inhibitors, the elucidation of enzyme reaction mechanisms, the development of new synthetic methods to access important biologically active compound analogs and biological probes, and the study of components of signal transduction pathways, including those associated with a variety of disease states ranging from cancer to HIV.
“It’s a great honor to be chosen for this award,” said Dr. Widlanski. “I feel that working with IU Ventures and the long interactions I have had with many staff, faculty, entrepreneurs and scientists over the years has provided me with far more in benefits than I have given back to the university. I’d like to give my thanks especially to the very talented people who have led IU Venture’s initiatives in its various iterations, Jason Whitney, Teri Willey, and Ken Green, and the incredibly capable people who have worked with me on these committees, Gary Anderson, Chuck Schalliol, Elizabeth Hagerman and Kathy Fields. The education I have gotten from working with them is truly priceless.”
About IU Ventures
IU Ventures invests in and supports IU-affiliated early-stage companies. Its investment programs include the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, IU Angel Network, Shoebox Fund and Innovate Indiana Fund. It further supports IU founders through the Executive in Residence Program and IU Founders and Funders Network. Student support is provided through a variety of engagements, including the new IU Venture Fellows Program. Each program takes unique approaches to accelerate and support the positive impacts that entrepreneurs affiliated with IU already achieve across the world. IU Ventures is a recognized leader in increasing opportunities for diverse and historically underserved entrepreneurs and investing in Indiana startups with a shared commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. www.iuventures.com
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