Steve Poizner Joins the Rady School of Management as First Entrepreneur in Residence

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Steve Poizner

(San Diego) – The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego today announced the appointment of Steve Poizner, a successful high tech entrepreneur and former California Insurance Commissioner, as the school’s inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence. The Rady School Entrepreneur in Residence, a program of the school’s California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID), provides Rady School students with a connection to distinguished business leaders who will share their experience and expertise.

Poizner has robust experience as an entrepreneur, founding and successfully selling SnapTrack, Inc., Strategic Mapping, Inc. and EmpoweredU. He is currently on the Selection Committee and a mentor at EvoNexus, Southern California’s largest technology incubator, and was the Senior Vice President of Emerging Businesses at Qualcomm from 2014-16. As the Entrepreneur in Residence, Poizner will work closely with the school’s entrepreneurship-focused programs mystartupXX, the StartR accelerator and the Lab to Market capstone course sequence. He will also hold office hours to mentor students. With Poizner, students will have the unique opportunity to gain insights directly from a serial entrepreneur seasoned in building and leading innovative organizations.

“Steve Poizner is an exceptional entrepreneur who will bring valuable insights to Rady School students,” said Rady School Dean Robert S. Sullivan. “We are privileged to have such an experienced and successful leader as the Rady School’s first Entrepreneur in Residence.”

In addition to his entrepreneurial successes, Poizner is active in public service. He served as the California Insurance Commissioner from 2007-11, one of only eight statewide elected positions in California, and as a White House Fellow from 2001-2 where he worked in the National Security Council Office of Cyberspace Security as the Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection. He also volunteered as a high school teacher at a low-income public high school and wrote a New York Times bestselling book about the experience.