2020 Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards are now open

Hunter Brooks Watson in a winter scene

Apply by March 13, 2020 – APPLY HERE

The Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards are made possible through the support of the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund to recognize SU students who have demonstrated a real passion and enthusiasm for their ventures or ideas. Four awards of $2,500 each are presented during the RvD iPrize business competition to teams of students from a variety of Syracuse schools.

Hunter Brooks Watson, a Syracuse student at the iSchool who tragically lost his life as a passenger in an automobile accident in 2016, is the inspiration for the awards. Hunter demonstrated a strong gift and enthusiasm in music, computer technology, performance art and entrepreneurship. The students selected for the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award follow in that mold.

Judging criteria for the Awards include:

  • Passion and spirit
  • Intrinsic drive that pushed the entrepreneurs to pursue this venture, and the likeliness that the team will pursue the venture
  • Level of cooperation and candor between the team members
  • Innovativeness and capability
  • The team has an innovative idea and a clear plan as to the continuation of the venture
  • Personality and comfortability during the Q & A, showing rapport as well as competence