Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership | Illinois

Ashton Clark (left) and Ryan Clark (right)
Founders of UTicketIt.com
B.S., Accountancy

Successful Young Entrepreneur
(Adpated from the College of Business http://business.illinois.edu/publications/ANN/2009-summer.pdf)

At age 13, Ryan Clark launched a web-based startup - the first of more than a dozen such companies he developed with his twin brother, Ashton. Ryan’s entrepreneurial spirit, in addition to his academic track in the University of Illinois’ interdisciplinary Hoeft Technology & Management Program, recently led to his winning the Student Leadership Award in the 2009 Black Engineer of the Year Awards.

Ryan and fellow award winners were recognized at the 23rd anniversary of the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Global Competitiveness Conference in February 2009 in Baltimore. The event was hosted by Lockheed Martin Corporation, US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine, and the Council of Engineering Deans.

Recently graduated from the University of Illinois, Clark has a keen sense of drive and ambition, and has accomplished more than many people twice his age in regard to startup activities and entrepreneurship. According to Morris Biggers, a senior project manager at Electronic Data Systems who served as a judge for the BEYA STEM awards, it was Ryan’s entrepreneurial spirit and grasp of technology that made him stand out among hundreds of entrants. “Ryan impressed me because he was able to master web technology as a teenager, and continues to leverage it to achieve success,” he said.

“I was delighted to hear that Ryan was selected for this BEYA honor. He is a terrific example of the strong interdisciplinary spirit among our students at the University of Illinois,” said Andrew Singer, director of the Technology Entrepreneur Center, where Ryan Clark served as a student webmaster. “His commitments to both business and engineering and his many academic and extracurricular activities in these areas truly define his character and demonstrate what an outstanding young man he is.”

In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, Ryan is a very serious student, earning an A-average at a highly-ranked research university. Last year, he was selected from among hundreds of student applicants from the Colleges of Engineering and Business to the Hoeft Technology & Management (T&M) Program at Illinois. The T&M Program bridges the gap between traditional engineering and business education by offering a unique curriculum to a select group of highly qualified undergraduates drawn from engineering and business departments. Working closely with its corporate partners, the T&M Program grooms the best and the brightest to be tomorrow’s leaders in technology and business. Each year, students like Ryan, an accounting major, are selected through a rigorous application process to participate in the program. In addition to their majors, the students also receive a minor in technology and management and complete a comprehensive leadership development program.

“Ryan is a great fit for the program” said John Clarke, assistant dean in the College of Business and executive director of the Hoeft Program. “Today many of our undergrad students have interests and capabilities in business and engineering. It is great to see a student who is doing both gain such recognition.”

In addition to his coursework and entrepreneurial activities, Ryan has been actively involved in other student leadership activities, including the Minority Leadership Group (MLG), the National Black MBA Association, and the 100 Strong Association. Ryan has been awarded the MLG Scholarship for academic, professional and community involvement, which places him in the top two percent of MLG members. Ryan is also a student in the Leadership, Education, and Development program.

About winning the BEYA STEM Student Leadership award, Ryan said, “It is a distinct honor and I am extremely excited to be a recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Student Leadership. This serves as more than just an award for me but the opportunity to inspire others to reach for their dreams and aspirations.”

Ashton Clark and Ryan Clark are recent graduates of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They are founders of successful Internet businesses such as 247Mixtapes.com and UTicketIt.com.