Successful Entrepreneurship – Setting Yourself Apart will be the topic of discussion for Aruna Viswanathan for the Entrepreneurial Lecture Series on December 3 at 11 a.m. in Landes Auditorium in the Galloway Building on the Lamar campus.  The lecture series is sponsored in part by ExxonMobil and features successful entrepreneurs who share their experiences with students in the College of Business and the community.

Viswanathan is the chief underwriting officer and co-founder for Clearspring Capital Group, a private equity fund providing growth capital to lower middle market companies. Previously, she was the vice-president and director of operations for the Houston Technology Center (HTC), where she directed the operational growth from 30 to more than 65 startups and launched the Gulf Coast Regional Center for Innovation & Commercialization.

Appointed by Governor Rick Perry, Viswanathan presided as vice-chair for the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Committee, which was responsible for awarding $200M to foster commercialization of emerging technology within the State of Texas.  She is on the advisory boards of the Houston Technology Center, UH Cullen College of Engineering, Testmasters, and Ingenious, Inc. She serves as a board member and president-elect for TiE-Houston – a global entrepreneurship organization spanning 17 countries and is also a member of the Rice Alliance and the Technology Executives Club of Houston.

Viswanathan graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a master of business administration degree in strategy and entrepreneurship from Rice University. She began her career as an engineer with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Motorola’s Wireless and Signal Processing Division.

The lecture is open to the public without charge.