Robert and Margaret Hill endow Furman’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

With their endowment to Furman University’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in late October, alumni Robert and Margaret Hill are ensuring the institute’s emergence as a major player in the Upstate’s burgeoning startup scene.

Anthony Herrera, Furman’s chief innovation officer and executive director of what is now the Robert and Margaret Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, says the naming gift sends an important signal to the business community about the institute’s impact in the years since its founding in 2018.

“When you get a generous, transformational gift … it sends a couple of messages,” Herrera says.

The Hills’ gift communicates their belief in Furman and the importance of the institute’s work in such initiatives as the Furman Business Innovation Accelerator, the GVL Starts program, the Class E podcast and the Paladin Pitch competition, he says.

Although the exact amount of the gift was not disclosed, Herrera says it was several million dollars and substantially advances the institute’s goal of a $10 million endowment that will transform its efforts from having momentum to becoming a movement.

“That’s what it’s all about and why it’s so important,” Herrera says.

The Hills have a record of giving back to their alma mater. Robert Hill is a retired executive and a member of Furman’s Board of Trustees. 

The Hill Atrium and Hill Courtyard of the Trone Student Center are named in their honor, and they were instrumental in bringing Herrera to the university and served as important catalysts for the institute’s founding, Herrera says.

He adds that he is confident the Hills’ gift will encourage other community partners to become involved with the growing entrepreneurial environment in Greenville and beyond, thus fostering further collaboration and productive “collisions” of innovators.

“The naming gift is making that happen,” Herrera says. “It’s…solidifying what’s happening.”

The post Robert and Margaret Hill endow Furman’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship appeared first on GREENVILLE JOURNAL.