A gift by E.V. Bishoff of Columbus, Ohio, will create a new program that places an entrepreneur in residence in the College of Engineering.
The E.V. Bishoff Engineering Entrepreneur in Residence Program is intended to bring successful engineering entrepreneurs to campus for extended interactions with faculty and students. The entrepreneur in residence will be an expert in business, design or manufacturing.
The entrepreneur in residence is envisioned as co-teaching courses, working with student teams to develop a better understanding of today's marketplace skills, serving as a speaker for professional development seminars and meeting with students to discuss keys to successful ventures.
Bishoff is the chairman of E.V. Bishoff Co., a Columbus-based real estate firm. He attended Penn State in the chemical engineering program from 1941 to 1943 and later received a degree in chemical engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University. Bishoff's time at the University was cut short when he joined the Merchant Marine during World War II. His father was a 1912 Penn State engineering graduate.
Bishoff's previous philanthropy to the University includes gifts to the Department of Chemical Engineering and the University Libraries. He also created the President's Award for Engagement of Students for faculty members who go beyond their expected duties and become involved in a student's total education. His most-recent gift was the creation of a student emergency fund to help students with extreme, unanticipated financial needs such as the death of a parent, job loss by parent or student or other circumstances that deplete a student's and his or her family's resources.