Overview:

This is a special crossover episode of Following the Gong and Dare to Disrupt, a podcast from Invent Penn State that features conversations with Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders, and the stories behind their successes. FTG host Sean Goheen interviews Goldman Sachs Managing Director and volunteer Dare to Disrupt host Ryan Newman ’01 and Associate Vice President for Research and Director of the Office of Entrepreneurship & Commercialization James Delattre ’97, both Scholar Alumni, about the entrepreneurial scene at Penn State. Ryan and James briefly share their background and time at Penn State. The conversation then explains the origin of Invent Penn State and the incredible resources available for not only students but alumni and community members looking to start, build, or scale a business. Ryan and Katie DeFiore, producer of Dare to Disrupt, share how that podcast came to be, favorite stories, and lessons learned from both the guests and the production process. This episode is a must for any Scholar and any Penn Stater – student, alumni, faculty, fan, or community member – to learn about the impact of the Honors College and Invent Penn State on the Commonwealth. Ryan and James’ bios and a full breakdown of topics discussed are available below.

Guest Bios:

Dr. James L. Delattre ’97 Sci serves as Associate Vice President for Research and Director of the Office for Entrepreneurship and Commercialization at Penn State where he leads entrepreneurship program development for the Invent Penn State initiative and leads commercialization strategy, resources and support for Penn State’s startup pipeline and LaunchBox & Innovation Network. He is an alumnus of the Professional Fellows Program of the American Councils for International Education. James is the principal investigator for Penn State’s National Science Foundation I-Corps Program, a member of the advisory board of the Center for Medical Innovation at the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine and serves as secretary of the Penn State Research Foundation. Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Delattre worked in nanomaterials and semiconductor startups in central Pennsylvania and Silicon Valley. Dr. Delattre earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed postdoctoral work at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche at the University of Bari, Italy. Dr. Delattre received his BS with Honors in Chemistry from Penn State’s Eberly College of Science in 1997, where he studied inorganic chemistry and the Russian language.

Ryan Newman ’01 Bus is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he co-founded and co-leads a private wealth management team, managing in excess of $13 billion on behalf of Fortune 500 executives, Forbes 400 families, entrepreneurs, family offices and foundations and endowments. Ryan is a member of the PWM Top Advisors and PWM Advisors Council, representing the top 10% of advisors globally at Goldman Sachs. He joined Goldman Sachs as a financial analyst in 2001 and was named a Managing Director in 2019. Ryan earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics with Honors 2001, and served as Student Marshal for Economics during graduation. Ryan is the host of the Invent Penn State podcast, Dare to Disrupt, which he helped launch, and has achieved over 50,000 downloads (as of September 2023). He also serves on the External Advisory Board of the Schreyer Honors College and the Principal Gifts Committee in Development at Penn State. Ryan is also a volunteer with the Smeal College of Business. He was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award in 2011 and the Alumni Fellow Award in 2023.

Episode Topics:

• Getting to know Ryan and James as they share their Penn State origin stories and t...