A Western star in the tech universe

Western’s prominence was both interesting and appeared welcome news to David Patrick, WWU’s dean of the graduate school and vice provost for research.

“Although I’m not personally familiar with Western’s connections to all the companies identified in the survey, I’m also not surprised to see Western ranked as a top producer of successful founders,” Patrick told me in an email.

In fact, he said, he supposed he’d expect it.

“I think a person has to graduate from college pretty inspired to want to take on these sorts of challenges and also, of course, equipped with the right skills,” he said. “Since Western emphasizes undergraduate research, professional experiences, and that style of teaching, the university tends to attract students who don’t mind getting their hands dirty, so to speak.”