Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award
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2005 Recipient: C. Richard Kramlich |
C. Richard Kramlich is the co-founder and general partner of New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the early Silicon Valley venture capital firms that created the template upon which the modern venture economy is based. Of the over 500 companies that NEA has invested in, 149 have gone public, including 3Com, Silicon Graphics, Juniper Networks, and Ascend Communications. A mentor to many emerging entrepreneurs and one of Silicon Valley's financial architects, Kramlich has helped hone venture capital as a field and has served as a pillar of the entire entrepreneuriship economy.
An ardent champion of the venture capital community's interests, he has served as president and chairman of the National Venture Capital Association.
With his wife Pamela's inspiration, Kramlich has also become a figurehead in the art world, patron of major museums, and supporter of new media art installations.
The lifetime achievement award was inaugurated in 1998.
Honorees include:
2007 Recipient: L. John Doerr
2006 Recipient: F. Warren Hellman
2005 Recipient: C. Richard Kramlich
2004 Recipient: Sanford R. Robertson
2003 Recipient: Dr. Ralph Landau
2002 Recipient: Dr. Edward Penhoet
2001 Recipient: Mr. William Hambrecht
2000 Recipient: Dr. Gordon Moore
1999 Recipient: Mr. Arthur Rock
1998 Recipient: Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni
Through the Lifetime Achievement Award, we seek to identify exemplars of entrepreneurship whose success can teach future generations by the example they set. Further, it allows us to bring outstanding practitioners to the Berkeley campus, creating opportunities for exchanges of ideas with faculty and students. We believe that by enhancing the interaction among academics, entrepreneurs, scientists and faculty, pragmatists and idealists, we help foster entrepreneurial success for individuals and the community as a whole.
The Lester Center has identified three distinct components shared by successful entrepreneurs. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the presence of these elements in the people who are thus honored. First, the award recognizes entrepreneurial excellence. This is reflected in the individual’s success in multiple business arenas and the significant impact of that success on a given industry.
Second, the award acknowledges the individual’s leadership in both business and community. As a leader, the award recipient models behavior that young entrepreneurs can emulate.
The third component of the award recognizes the efforts by which the entrepreneur returns value to his/her community. The award recipient’s contributions may be to the preservation of the environment, improvement of educational opportunity, or some other substantial contribution to the well-being of the community.
