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"So You Think You Want to Lead a Start-Up Company"

April 15, 2026 | Noon -1:00 | Crawford Hall - James. R Unger Global Forum (room 330)

Join us on Wednesday, April 15, for the Michael D. Solomon Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, featuring college alumnus and seasoned healthcare executive, Matthew E. Likens. Likens will present, "So You Think You Want to Lead a Start-Up Company"  in the James R. Unger Global Forum in Crawford Hall. A reception with light refreshments will follow in the Donald S. and Johnna F. Grant Atrium. This event is free to attend, but registration is required. 

About Matthew E. Likens

Matthew E. Likens graduated cum laude from Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ in 1975 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing. Likens is a seasoned healthcare executive with more than two decades of leadership experience in global sales, marketing and general management, including roles at Baxter Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson. 

As President and CEO of Ulthera, Inc., he lead the venture-backed start-up from early regulatory approval to rapid growth and a $600 million acquisition by Merz Pharma in 2014. He later served as president and CEO of GT Medical Technologies, guiding the company from a start-up to a full commercial launch of GammaTileⓇ Therapy, an innovative treatment design to improve outcomes for patients with brain tumors. 

Likens currently serves on the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship National Advisory Board.

ABOUT THE SERIES

The Michael D. Solomon Entrepreneurship Speaker Series brings experienced entrepreneurs and educators to campus each semester to share professional insights and wisdom with students and community members. This endowed program is supported by Â鶹¾«Ñ¡Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship alumnus, Michael D. Solomon. The series held its first lecture in May 2008.

The Michael D. Solomon Speaker Series is presented by the John S. And Marlene J. Brinzo Center For Entrepreneurship.

                  View Past Speakers     Learn more about the Brinzo Center

WHO IS MICHAEL D. SOLOMON?

Michael D. Solomon began his career in Columbus, Ohio where he worked with Apple Computer to set up their original dealer network when they were a $100 million company until 1985, then moved to Seattle where he ran sales and marketing for Aldus Corp, which created Desktop Publishing, then moved to California in 1990 and worked in Silicon Valley as an executive, Venture Capitalist, entrepreneur, Board member and advisor ever since. He recently served as the Board Chairman of Within 3 Corporation, a Cleveland-based medical industry software company from 2010 to its successful take-out financing with Insight Partners, a leading private equity firm in 2020. Michael is currently involved in three exciting new ventures in California and Colorado. He recently graduated from the Academy of Intuition Medicine with a Masters of Intuition Medicine Degree. Michael was a member of the Â鶹¾«Ñ¡Board of Trustees from 2011 to 2020, the Foundation Board from 2004 to 2011 and endowed the Michael D. Solomon Entrepreneurial Speaker Series in 2002, the Jerry M. Lewis speaker series in 2022, and the Alan Canfora scholarship program in Activism in 2021. He graduated from Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1974.