N2Tec Institute

Board of Directors

• Kathleen Allen PhD

  Kathleen Allen serves as N2TEC Institute's President and is co-founder of the organization. She is also a professor in the Greif Entrepreneurship Center of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and the author of numerous text and trade books including Launching New Ventures, 5th Edition, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, 3rd Ed., and Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers. She is the Director of the USC Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization where she assists researchers in the commercialization of their technologies. As an entrepreneur, Allen was active in commercial real estate development for 10 years, owning two businesses, is cofounder of two technology ventures, and is a director of a NYSE company. She holds a Masters Degree in Romance Languages, an MBA, and a Ph.D. with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. She also has a degree in music.

• Burt Chojnowski

  Burt Chojnowski has been a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and investment banker with experience in the formation and development of successful companies in the telecommunications, computer software, media, alternative energy, government securities, fundraising and oil & gas brokerage industries. He was the founder of CoolCall, an international telecommunications company based in Iowa with venture capital provided by Samsung America, the Band of Angels, and Garage.com. He is currently involved in several entrepreneurial ventures as a founder and advisor. Burt has been innovative leader of the Fairfield Entrepreneurs Association that is considered one of the leading entrepreneurial development organizations of its kind in the U.S. today. The National Council of Small Communities named Fairfield, Iowa the top entrepreneurial city in 2003.

• Kent Glasscock

   Kent Glasscock is Executive Director of the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization (NISTAC), where he is responsible for developing strategies to create sustainable technology based business and wealth creation in rural and underserved urban America through the acquisition of market grade technologies that are made available on a national basis in conjunction with supportive entrepreneurial services. Coming himself from a long entrepreneurial career, Glasscock still serves as Chairman and CEO of the family retail lumber and construction businesses operating in Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas. Previous to joining NISTAC, Mr. Glasscock enjoyed sixteen years in public service, including twelve years as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives. While in the legislature, was elected House Majority Leader in 1998 and Speaker of the House in 2000. Mr. Glasscock retired from public office in January of 2003 to join NISTAC.

• Bruce Rampelberg

  Bruce Rampelberg is Vice President of Business Development at First Western Bank in Rapid City, South Dakota. He brings many years of successful work in banking and business development. He serves on the Board of Commissioners of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority. He is also actively involved with the Ellsworth Air Force Base Task Force, Black Hills Vision, the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement, Rotary, and many other community organizations.

• Timothy M. Stearns PhD

  Timothy Stearns serves as CFO of N2TEC Institute and is co-founder of the organization. He is also the holder of the Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies and Director of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno www.lylescenter.com. Professor Stearns received his MBA degree in management and a doctorate in management/sociology from Indiana University. He previously was a member of the Management faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Marquette University. He has served on the editorial board of the Academy of Management Journal, and currently services on the editorial boards of the Journal of Business Research and the Journal of Small Business Management. He has taught and lectured on entrepreneurship and innovation to students and executives in Thailand, Poland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, and the Peoples Republic of China. He currently serves as Chair for the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management and Vice-President of Research for the United States Association of Small Business www.usasbe.org.

• Melvin Ustad PhD

  Melvin Ustad  is an ex-officio member of the N2TEC Institute board. He is the Director of the South Dakota Office of Commercialization and has extensive experience leading collaborative interdisciplinary public private research and economic development projects.   Dr. Ustad also served as Acting and Interim Vice President for Research at the University of South Dakota, Director of the South Dakota SBIR Center, and worked for US Senator Larry Pressler.  He has served or currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Small Business High Technology Institute, National Network for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (N2TEC) Executive Committee, Genesis of Innovation, Enterprise Institute, South Dakota Science and Technology Council, Forward Sioux Falls Technology Accelerator, and several technology based business boards.   Dr. Ustad has led a $1.6 million National Science Foundation Information Technology Research project and a $600,000 National Science Foundation statewide Partnership for Innovation project.  Dr. Ustad has also lead a four state regional US Department of Commerce EPSCoT project, Project SBIR West projects supported by the US West Foundation, a Coleman Foundation Entrepreneurship project and two National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance projects.  

• Delore Zimmerman PhD

  Delore Zimmerman is the President of CEO Praxis, Inc., a growth strategy company that works with entrepreneurial leaders to build communities and regions that are more competitive and livable.    Delore's career has focused on the connections between community and enterprise development, including 10 years developing and deploying the High-Performance Community initiative.  CEO Praxis has received eight Small Business Innovation Research awards from USDA that have resulted in innovative techniques, practices and tools to help economic developers and community leaders in urbanized rural areas create an entrepreneurial culture and work more effectively with entrepreneurs in technology and information industries.  Delore also currently serves as the Director of the Coordinating Center of the Red River Valley Research Corridor, named to the position by U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan in March 2004. The Research Corridor is an initiative to bring ideas, talent and capital together to build and attract new science and technology-based ventures in North Dakota and the Upper Great Plains.