Dartmouth has launched a search for a new leader of the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship as founding executive director Jamie Coughlin plans to step down after 13 years.
The search comes as Dartmouth moves forward with a planned expansion of the Magnuson Center, which helps aspiring entrepreneurs transform their ideas into business and nonprofit ventures, creating a new structure that will also welcome the Technology Transfer Office, which supports researchers and inventors across the university who are seeking to patent, license, and commercialize their work.
Coughlin, who decided last spring to transition to the private sector, says he has been helping shape this “exciting next phase of growth for the center.” He will support the search, which is being led by Dean Madden, vice provost for research, and Andrea Johnson ’91, chair of the Magnuson Board of Advisors.
Magnuson 3.0
The idea for the elevation of the center and its programmatic expansion grew out of extensive conversations with the Board of Advisors and a campuswide review that revealed a “tremendous opportunity to create a holistic innovation ecosystem at Dartmouth,” Madden says.
Bringing the Technology Transfer Office together with the entrepreneurship and alumni networking resources under the aegis of the new Magnuson Center “will streamline our pipeline from discovery to societal impact,” Madden says. “Combining the signature features of Technology Transfer with Magnuson’s core programs will enable them to work together as a single team to drive that impact.”
Technology Transfer is currently part of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Tech Transfer, which is led by Vice Provost Eric Fossum. Along with overseeing the business development and licensing of intellectual property owned by Dartmouth, it also ensures grant compliance and manages revenue distributions. It works closely with faculty, staff, and students to raise awareness of the importance of intellectual property both as a form of open science and as a means to ensure the societal impact of the university’s research discoveries.
Dartmouth received 40 patents in 2025, and is ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide granted patents in the United States. According to the most recent Nature Innovation Index, it also ranks second in the Ivy League for the per-capita number of research publications that are cited in patents worldwide.
Fossum himself invented and commercialized the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor active pixel image sensor, the core technology behind billions of cell-phone cameras produced each year, and earlier this year was awarded the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering, one of the world’s preeminent honors for engineering achievement.
Since taking the lead of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer in 2017, Fossum has taken several significant steps, including a focus on supporting and encouraging faculty innovation and startups. He has also been a strong proponent for the creation and development of the Magnuson Center, which was launched as an initiative within the Office Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer before becoming an independent center within the Provost’s Office.
Going forward, in his role as vice provost Fossum will continue to direct the PhD Innovation Program. He will also concentrate on strengthening campuswide academic-industry partnerships, which represent a new area of emphasis in federal and foundation funding mechanisms, and an exceptional opportunity for faculty and students to extend the impact of their research.
Among the plans for Magnuson 3.0 are a campuswide accelerator, expanded experiential learning and immersion opportunities for students, enhanced support for faculty research translation and technology commercialization, and strengthened alumni engagement.
Dartmouth’s liberal arts framework will continue to guide the work, Madden says.
“We don’t want to drift too far from the idea that these are opportunities for students to learn and that we’re bringing in the human perspective, which is increasingly critical, given rapid global development in AI and digital health,” he says.
Ultimately, Madden says, Dartmouth aims to develop leaders of the national and global innovation ecosystem for years to come, creating “an intergenerational innovation flywheel that is the envy of our peers.”
Working with faculty across various departments, Dartmouth has also recently launched Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Dartmouth, a new interdisciplinary initiative at the Rockefeller Center designed to strengthen teaching, research, and experiential learning at the intersection of innovation and social impact.
‘A catalyst and advocate for entrepreneurship at Dartmouth’
As the transition approaches, Johnson and Madden lauded Coughlin’s work advancing Magnuson, which has nearly doubled its reach over the past decade, currently serving 1,000 students, 100 faculty members, and 1,500 alumni a year.
“On behalf of the entire Board of Advisors, I want to express our deep gratitude to Jamie for what he has built,” Johnson says. “He took an idea and turned it into something real. He built a culture, a community, and a platform that will serve Dartmouth entrepreneurs for generations. The foundation he has laid makes everything we’re envisioning for Magnuson 3.0 possible, and that is a testament to his hard work and dedication.”
“As founding executive director, Jamie has played a central role in developing an amazing palette of programs that support student and faculty interest in entrepreneurship, while welcoming our highly engaged alumni network to provide guidance and support,” Madden says. “A catalyst and advocate for entrepreneurship at Dartmouth, he has put his heart and soul into building opportunities for our community.”
Coughlin came to Dartmouth in 2013 and founded the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network Innovation Center, a pilot that under his leadership grew to become the Magnuson Center in 2018.
Inspired by a flagship gift from Allison and Rick Magnuson ’79 and by generous philanthropic support from the Board of Advisors and numerous alumni, “what began as its own startup initiative has developed into a comprehensive and connected ecosystem that supports founders, creators, and innovators at all stages and across a wide range of interests, from highly technical and scientific pursuits to creative and arts-inspired ideas,” Coughlin says.
“A defining feature of the Magnuson Center’s growth has been its emphasis on experiential learning and student leadership,” he says. “Through hands-on programs, competitions, and student-led initiatives, entrepreneurship at Dartmouth has evolved into a deeply practical, learning-by-doing model supported by a vibrant, student-driven ecosystem.”
The business database PitchBook ranks Dartmouth sixth in the U.S. for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs among institutions of its size.
Over the years, Coughlin has worked to cultivate a broad network of alumni, investors, and partners engaged in supporting Dartmouth founders. Creating the Dartmouth Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame, which celebrates alumni entrepreneurial achievement, was part of those efforts.
The inductions are held during Magnuson’s annual flagship event, the Dartmouth Entrepreneurs Forum, which connects founders, venture capitalists, and other Dartmouth community members committed to helping Dartmouth entrepreneurs thrive.
“I am particularly proud of the remarkable team we built. Their talent, passion, and commitment make all of this possible,” Coughlin says. “It is a community, a culture, and a foundation that will continue to grow and support Dartmouth entrepreneurs for years to come.”
Search underway for new director
Magnuson’s new executive director will be tasked with forging the team and deploying new resources as the center enters the next stage of its evolution, as well as developing and advancing collaborations with a wide range of campus partners, including the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society and Dartmouth Center for Career Design, Madden says.
“We are looking for a visionary, action-oriented team builder with deep expertise in entrepreneurship and a commitment to student and alumni engagement,” Madden says. “We want the Magnuson Center to be a national model for engaging students, alumni, faculty, and staff in the efficient translation of discovery into societal benefit.”
The search committee is working with the search firm Isaacson, Miller, which has a strong track record in finding leaders in academic entrepreneurship, Madden says.
In addition to co-chairs Madden and Johnson, the committee members include:
- Jeff Crowe ’78, Magnuson Board of Advisors, Dartmouth trustee
- Maia Josebachvili ’05, Magnuson Board of Advisors, Dartmouth trustee
- Anna Mahoney, executive director, Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy
- Lisa Marsch, professor of psychiatry and director, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health
- Katherine Mirica, associate professor of chemistry
- Eileen O’Toole, director, Center for Entrepreneurship at Tuck
- Brian Pogue, Robert A. Pritzker Professor of Biomedical Engineering
- Charles Sentman, professor of microbiology and immunology
- Todd Sisitsky ’93, Dartmouth trustee
- Soroush Vosoughi, associate professor of computer science
A position profile will be posted in the coming weeks, based on listening sessions with stakeholders. Dartmouth community members are encouraged to submit nominations.
