Rensselaer's Lally School Names the 2004 Recipient of Herman Family Fellowship

Rensselaer's Lally School of Management and Technology has awarded MBA student Jennifer Sin the prestigious Herman Family Fellowship for Women in Entrepreneurship. The annual prize was established to help women pursue their entrepreneurial interests by providing tuition support, education, and mentoring.

"The fellowship is intended to open doors for women," said Michael Herman '62, general partner of the Herman Family Trading Company and former president of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. "In choosing a recipient, we look for women with technology backgrounds who have demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit and skills. The Lally MBA enhances their ability to start a company and create jobs. We also look for women who will give back something to society and, for all these reasons, Jennifer Sin is an excellent choice." Herman is a member of the Rensselaer Board of Trustees.

Sin, a 1996 graduate of Hamilton College with a bachelor's degree in biology, complemented her work in molecular research with experience in the financial industry in Boston, Mass., and Albany, N.Y.

"The Lally School has a seminar series in Biotechnology Management & Entrepreneurship, which capitalizes on Rensselaer's new Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies. The seminars introduce students to best business practices for starting and growing a biotechnology venture. Jennifer Sin has an excellent background in molecular genetics and entrepreneurial experience in business. That combination made her a standout choice," said Iftekhar Hasan, acting dean of the Lally School of Management and Technology.

"I'm very excited about the next two years," said Sin. "I believe the hands-on approach of the new curriculum at the Lally School will put me in a position to create my own business, or practice corporate entrepreneurship, when I earn my MBA."

In 2004, Entrepreneur magazine ranked the Lally School MBA program in the top tier of programs nationwide. The Lally School recently launched an integrative, new curriculum that does not follow the traditional MBA approach in which each course focuses on a specific business discipline, such as marketing or accounting; rather, it combines coursework into year-long classes that capture the complexity of the real-world business environment.