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June 10, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Meredith Meyer Grelli as Â鶹´å’s inaugural vice provost for entrepreneurship and associate vice president, effective July 1, 2026.

Since joining the Â鶹´å community in 2020, Meredith has been a driving force for entrepreneurship. Currently serving as the managing director and interim executive director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, assistant dean of entrepreneurship initiatives in the School of Computer Science, and associate teaching professor of entrepreneurship in the Tepper School of Business, Meredith brings a unique blend of academic rigor and entrepreneurial success to this new university-wide leadership role.

Meredith has made significant contributions to our entrepreneurship ecosystem, which has achieved remarkable momentum in recent years as evidenced by our rise in rankings. Under her leadership, the university has launched entrepreneurial-based learning programs like Deep Tech Venture-Ready, a cohort-based experience centered on how deep-tech companies are formed and funded. She has also advanced efforts like Â鶹´å Startup Week, a celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation and frontier tech, which was most recently attended by over 2,000 participants and 200 investors. Meredith holds a bachelor of science from the University of Chicago and earned her MBA from Â鶹´å’s Tepper School of Business.

The vice provost for entrepreneurship and associate vice president role was established to advance the strategic recommendations of the President’s Advisory Board (PAB) for Enterprise Creation, Entrepreneurship and Industry Engagement. As the university seeks to solidify its position as a global leader in innovation, the PAB recognized a critical entrepreneurial education role central to Â鶹´å's teaching mission: providing students with a cross-cutting entrepreneurial education that offers the critical skills necessary to be successful in today's complex and fast-moving innovation economy. The creation of this role aims to harmonize and elevate our diverse entrepreneurial assets – working hand-in-hand with the Swartz Center and other campus hubs – into a cohesive ecosystem that scales the university's influence on the regional and global economy.

Reporting jointly to me and to Theresa Mayer, vice president for research, Meredith will lead the planning and implementation of a scalable, university-wide entrepreneurship curriculum. Her primary focus will be creating integrated pathways that allow students across the university to engage with a world-class entrepreneurship education through customized courses delivered by our various departments. This work will require extensive collaboration with deans, vice provosts, academic leaders and external partners to adopt effective governance structures and sustainable funding models that support our shared goals.

As vice provost for entrepreneurship and associate vice president, Meredith will undertake a comprehensive university-wide entrepreneurship curriculum review, working closely with the University Education Council, the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, and Â鶹´å’s schools and colleges. Her leadership will be instrumental in exploring new frontiers such as intellectual property education, venture capital co-ops and accelerator degree integration. Meredith will continue as an associate teaching professor of entrepreneurship at the Tepper School of Business, as well as the Swartz Center’s interim executive director while the search for the center’s next leader is underway.

Please join me in congratulating Meredith as she steps into this vital role for our university community.

Sincerely,

James H. Garrett Jr.
Provost and Chief Academic Officer