Emre Toker named executive director of ASU's Center for Entrepreneurship

Arizona State University this week announced the appointment of Emre Toker as the executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the W. P. Carey School of Business. Toker joins ASU from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was the managing director of the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

In his new position at ASU, Toker will provide inspiration and develop and lead campus-wide entrepreneurship initiatives that serve the university, the state of Arizona, and beyond. The Center for Entrepreneurship, which was founded more than 20 years ago, fosters creativity, innovation and learning across all disciplines at every college and school — serving as a hub of entrepreneurial activity across all ASU campuses.

“I took this position because I believe in President Crow’s vision for ASU as a model public university for the nation,” Toker said. “I am looking forward to playing my part in helping realize this broad vision by making the W. P. Carey Center for Entrepreneurship a uniquely differentiated national model for all university-based entrepreneurship centers.”

A native of Turkey, Toker brings a wealth of teaching and venture funding experience to ASU. He founded and successfully exited three highly profitable medical-device startup firms, and has taught innovation and entrepreneurship to a wide range of students and faculty located around the world, including students of science, engineering, medicine, business, liberal arts and the social sciences.

“Emre has as a fresh approach for defining a leadership position in entrepreneurship at ASU and the W. P. Carey School,” said Amy Hillman, dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business. “We’re very excited to see where his dedication, knowledge and passion can take the center, as well as the many students across ASU who are exploring entrepreneurship.” 

Toker is no stranger to Arizona; before moving to St. Louis, southern Arizona was his home for 30 years. He served as a senior mentor-in-residence at the University of Arizona’s McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship in Tucson for three years.

A graduate of Reed College with a bachelor’s degree in physics, Toker also earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona and the California Institute of Technology, respectively.