Philippe Sommer, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, is responsible for managing Darden’s entrepreneurship program as well as its broader educational efforts around innovation including the recently launched i.Lab. Sommer also works extensively with the larger U.Va. community on new university-wide entrepreneurship initiatives, such as the U.Va. Entrepreneurship Cup. Prior to joining Darden, Sommer was a founding partner of WestMed Venture Funds, publicly registered life-sciences venture-capital funds affiliated with CIBC/Oppenheimer, Inc. He has also served as director of business development in the medical products group for Pfizer, Inc. Sommer has extensive experience in fund management, venture capital, private investments, M&A, licensing and technology transfer. The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership is part of the Batten Institute.

Sommer serves on the advisory boards of the Coulter Foundation Grant to the Biomedical Engineering Department; as advisor to the nanoSTAR Institute (nanotechnology); as a board member of the Buchanan Endowment Program of the Medical School; and as an advisor to the Launch Pad Fund supporting diabetes research, all of which are at U.Va.

Sommer holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. with Honors from Amherst College.

Business Professor, Business,