Profile picture of Jeff Sorensen

Jeff Sorensen

Director, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship

Affiliations: Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship
jeff@uoregon.edu
Phone: 541-346-7586
Office: Lillis 345A

About

Biography:

Jeff Sorensen is a founder, funder, and community builder. He has been leading the University of Oregon's Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship since fall 2022. The center aspires to provide an ideal place for highly committed people to build their next big project.

Over the past 12 years, along with great teams and colleagues, Sorensen has raised $25 million for college entrepreneurship programs, incubated more than 5,000 student founders, advised and funded hundreds of them, and built infrastructure to support student entrepreneurs for decades to come.

Sorensen believes that anyone can build amazing things, and he wants to help where he can. His mission is to create supportive communities for the ones who ask, "Why not me?" and take action on their ideas. Please don't hesitate to reach out.

Degree History:
  • BA, University of Michigan, 2012
  • Graduate Coursework, Ross School of Business, 2013–2014
Previous Positions:
  • Founding Director for Social Innovation, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, 2015–2022
  • Cofounder, optiMize, 2012–present
  • Instructor, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017–2018
Professional Leadership:
  • Member, University of Michigan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Roundtable, 2017–2022
  • Member, Ann Arbor Learning Community School Board, 2016–2019
  • Member, United Way of Washtenaw County Campaign Cabinet, 2015
Honors and Awards:
  • Forbes 30 Under 30, 2017
  • Crain's 20 in Their 20s, 2017
  • University of Michigan Student of the Year, 2014

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Presentations

  • "All Ages, All Majors: Student Motivation for Social Innovation: A Conversation with UNLV President Keith Whitfield," Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers, 2022

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In the News

The hand of the UO Duck mascot points to a scrapbook page bearing the word "Momentum" and a drawing of a flag with the text "The place for entrepreneurship."
Lundquist = Entrepreneurship
The Lundquist College is driving innovation and entrepreneurship with strategic hires, growing student programs, and groundbreaking partnerships.
In a screencap from a video, Bruce Blonigen, standing outside the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship within the Lillis Business Complex, gestures to the entrance to the center behind him. A white outlined arrow has been overlaid onto the image and is pointing to the center's name above its doors.
Inside Lundquist | Summer Term 2024
The Lundquist College is at the heart of fast-expanding opportunities and activities for entrepreneurs. In the past few years, we have increased curricular offerings, launched a new incubator program, debuted on-demand consulting services by students, expanded mentoring, invested in faculty, and much more.
Sue Cameron McDonald (left) and Paul Cameron (right) walk through one of the upper stories of the atrium in the Lillis Business Complex, in conversation with University of Oregon president Karl Scholz (center).
Gift Boosts Innovation Efforts
A new $10 million gift to the University of Oregon from the estate of Gerry and Marilyn Cameron will support faculty excellence and further innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives at the Lundquist College and Knight Campus.
Simple digital art of a ribbon-link arrow pointing upward and bearing the numbers of new rankings: 50, 26, and 4.
Ducks Ascend in Entrepreneur Rankings
The Lundquist College is celebrating gains in several rankings produced by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review.
Simple digital art of light bulbs
Funding Innovators
A significant gift is enhancing the entrepreneurship ecosystem at the Lundquist College of Business and the University of Oregon.
A student stands at the front of a classroom and pitches a business venture
Reimagining Innovation
A new initiative on campus is reimagining how we encourage, support, and fund student-led innovation and entrepreneurship ventures and projects.
A collage-type image of Jeff Sorensen as a baseball player
Eight Questions to Make the Right Pitch
Entrepreneurship expert Jeff Sorensen shares tips for giving your big idea pop.
Three students sitting together at a table compare notes on their laptops.
Tops in Graduate Entrepreneurship for 2023
The UO has earned a spot as a top graduate school for entrepreneurship studies in the 2023 Princeton Review and Entrepreneur rankings.

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