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Are you passionate about engineering but also business-savvy? Interested in realworld applications of your knowledge in the greater Boston area’s thriving startup scene? Just want to learn something new— and maybe discover a new passion along the way? Tufts Gordon Institute is just one of the ways that innovation-minded Jumbos can learn new skills, get involved in the broader community, and even find funding for their own projects! Read on to discover new ways to get involved and get a rundown on the entrepreneurship scene at Tufts.

Tufts Gordon Institute Offers New Minor for Engineers

The foundations for future leadership minor, recently launched in Fall 2023, aims to provide Jumbo engineers with the skills and mindset to become innovative leaders who tackle the complex challenges facing our society. In addition to serving as the foundation to a student’s education, the minor will also act as a gateway to additional studies in leadership, innovation, management, and entrepreneurship. The cluster of specialties at Tufts Gordon Institute and the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts (DEC) collectively reach 15% of Tufts undergraduates, including the entrepreneurship minor—the most popular minor at Tufts with 100 graduating students in the 2022–2023 academic year.

Reflecting on the new foundations for future leadership minor, Director of Programs & Operations for Tufts Gordon Institute and faculty lead Will Trevor, shared, “This minor will help to develop the next generation of leaders who will have an important role in transforming society, while also teaching them vital skills in financial literacy, communications, and the importance of acting with an ethical purpose. Central to the mission of the Tufts Gordon Institute is developing transformative leaders with heart, and this minor helps spread that vision to all Tufts students.”

To receive this minor, students complete three half-semester core courses in Leadership, Communications, and Financial Literacy, and at least one elective course from Tufts Gordon Institute’s portfolio of 100-level courses. This minor is available exclusively to students in the School of Engineering, however students across other Tufts schools are invited to take the cluster of courses as an addition to their studies.

George Blount, Lecturer at Tufts Gordon Institute, shares the educational goal that drives him and his fellow faculty in teaching the foundations for future leadership minor: “Our aim is to help the next generation of leaders, whatever their chosen career path, to develop the skills and mindset to make a real difference in the world and take from their Tufts education a sense of profound purpose to use their leadership skills for the benefit of all society.” Blount teaches the course Mastering Money: Developing Financial Literacy, in which students learn sound money management in personal and professional finance. In addition to developing financial awareness and vocabulary in students, the course teaches basic business finances such as budgeting, accounting statements, and taxation.

The Derby Entrepreneurship Center and Tufts Undergraduate Life

The entrepreneurship minor helps students develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skillset they can apply to their life after graduation—whether they plan on entering graduate school, starting or working for a startup or small business, joining a larger for-profit or non-profit organization, or joining a government agency. The minor offers more flexibility than ever. Students can earn the minor by taking one foundational course plus 12 additional credits from a wide selection of options, at least six of which must be core courses. The DEC also offers the entrepreneurship for social impact minor in partnership with the Tisch College of Civic Life for students who want to drive social impact while solving today’s most pressing problems through innovation.

Beyond its academic offerings, the DEC supports entrepreneurship and innovation across Tufts University through a variety of co-curricular activities including competitions, one-on-one coaching, workshops, and events including cross-university mixers, competitions, and the Tufts Venture Accelerator. For students who want entrepreneurial methodologies but aren’t working on a new venture just yet, the internship program and the Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund help encourage them to just get started.

Throughout the year, DEC hosts an entrepreneurial speaker series where entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders share their real-life stories—both struggles and successes—in fireside chats and panel discussions. Students can also take advantage of access to DEC’s one-on-one coaching sessions with entrepreneurial experts, including DEC’s three Entrepreneurs in Residence. For students looking to gain hands-on experience in a startup, DEC offers several Internship Grants that help in supporting students when a newly formed venture does not have the funding to do so themselves.

When students and alumni are ready to put their newly gained experience to the test, they can compete in competitions hosted by the DEC, including its flagship competition: the Tufts $100k New Ventures Competition. In this challenge, early-stage innovators and entrepreneurs pitch their ideas in three tracks: General Technology, Social Impact, and Healthcare & Life Science. The competition welcomes applicants across the Tufts community from undergraduate and graduate students to recent alumni, faculty, and staff across all 11 schools and colleges at Tufts. The competition culminates in live pitch competitions at the semifinals and finals, where competitors vie for cash prizes of over $100,000 along with additional in-kind services.

More Ways to Get Learning and Gain Experience

The opportunities for Tufts students to learn about leadership and entrepreneurship through Tufts Gordon Institute don’t end at the newest minor. For students seeking a minor that will empower them with essential leadership skills based in real experience and engineering practice, Tufts Gordon Institute also offers the engineering management minor which teaches leadership skills in areas such as product and process development, communications, financial planning, and product management. Students who graduate with the engineering management minor are prepared to be leaders and innovators in a rapidly changing, tech-driven world.

All of these undergraduate offerings connect students to the wider Tufts Gordon Institute and Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts community. With an international network of students, alumni, faculty, staff, and industry experts, members of the Tufts Gordon Institute community constantly reconnect at events such as alumni nights, Keynote Debates, the annual Backyard Bash, and more. Whether students are interested in advancing their leadership career, launching a new venture, or transforming their innovative ideas into impact, Tufts Gordon Institute and its worldwide community of transformative leaders with heart are ready to help.