People Matter

by Rob White

This week, the Davis and Sacramento entrepreneur communities received some incredibly sad news.  The passing of Wil Agatstein, executive director of the UC Davis Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was unexpected and certainly a huge loss to the region.

Though I had not yet been able to work with Wil very much in my new role, I instantly realized the significant impact from the news. His research and reputation in the innovation and entrepreneur community was amongst the best.

According to a press release from Stephen Currall, Dean and Professor of Management at the UC Davis Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, “Wil dedicated his life to entrepreneurship and the power of technology to make a positive impact on the world. He joined the Graduate School of Management in 2008 as the Robert A. Fox Executive-in-Residence, and taught a course on innovation in the developing world. Over the past five years, his dedication and commitment has been integral to the success and growth of both the Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Graduate School of Management.”

The press release goes on to share, “Wil shared a passion with the Institute for bringing innovative ideas to market. As executive director, he was instrumental in strengthening the institute’s focus-and networks-on building and launching sustainable businesses that takes science out of the lab and into the world.”

“He led the design, development, recruiting and delivery of a variety of workshops, Entrepreneurship Academies and forums to help students and faculty develop the knowledge, skills, network and confidence to commercialize their ideas.”

“Wil was tireless in his efforts to build and connect the network of investors, business professionals and others in the community to not only help researchers be successful in their ideas, but also building economic vitality worldwide.”

“In the classroom, Wil was a dynamic lecturer and helped foster responsible international business leadership among our students through the International Study Trip and Corporate Social Responsibility classes. He also taught Business Development Clinic courses as well as Entrepreneurship Academies. Elsewhere at UC Davis, Wil was a co-principal investigator of a USDA grant with the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, where they provided “credible, relevant information for those helping farmers in Afghanistan.” He also served as a board member of Inveneo, a non-profit whose mission is to connect those who need it the most.”

“Wil brought to UC Davis nearly three decades of global experience in the competitive high-tech arena. He was vice president at Intel and the head of Intel’s Emerging Markets Group. During his 27 years at Intel he established a track record of innovation of production products, including the development of the Intel Channel Program where over 170,000 entrepreneurs in 120 countries are delivered product and training to help deliver computing to everyone, and the start-up of Intel’s chip design center in Malaysia. He also was the creator and father of the Intel Powered classmate PC-a small, rugged inexpensive and personalized laptop for children in the developing world.”

As I pondered this sad news and read through Wil’s many accomplishments, I began to think about my own legacy.  What have I done? What will I do? Will my wife, kids, family and friends be proud of my accomplishments?

Then I quickly turned my thoughts to something that matters even more.  People.

It is people that make each and every experience worth the trouble. It is people that encourage me to get up in the morning and come to work. It is people that enrich our lives when we go to work, school, events. And it is people that make our community.

Thanks to Wil’s hard work, the sector I get to work in is so much richer and more enjoyable. I truly do get to stand on the shoulders of local giants. But it was Wil’s accomplishments that made me realize that without people to share these experiences with, the richness and enjoyment are not nearly as important.

So, please take a moment to remember Wil and his life’s work.  Remember that our community is that much more valuable and that the human experience is nothing short of amazing.  Then remember that people you come across today can probably teach you something, can probably make you better, and can probably enrich your community.

If you are interested in getting more engaged in the work we need to do as a community, one way is to get involved with the DSIDE group (a group formed from businesses, city staff, university reps and engaged citizens).  Our next meeting is this morning (Thursday June 27^th) from 8:30-10:30 AM in the University Park Inn and Suites Conference Room, located at 1111 Richards Blvd. At 9 AM, Thomas Spirgi, CEO and Brandon Cardwell, VP of the i-GATE iHub will be making a presentation about the i-GATE and Davis partnership and will be discussing the current work program and future plans.

Thoughts on this subject?  Please let me know. My email is rwhite@cityofdavis.org.

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