An aerial view over Northwestern University's Evanston campus. Photo: H. Michael Miley from Schaumburg, USA / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Evanston’s biggest annual business mixer moved to the Northwestern University lakefront on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, for its fifth edition. The MashUp ran from 5:30 to 9 p.m. under a tent at the university’s beach, 2311 Campus Drive, just east of the sports pavilion and aquatics center.
Northwestern hosted the event with the City of Evanston, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and other business partners. Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and Northwestern President Morton Schapiro served as co-captains. Thirty-one local restaurants supplied a “Taste of Evanston” spread, First Night Evanston provided live music, and the Evanston Township High School cheerleading squad performed. Tickets cost $95 in advance, $125 at the door and $50 for professionals 35 and under.
The Spirit of Evanston Award
Each year the MashUp gives the Corrine Passage Spirit of Evanston Award to a resident for outstanding service. It is named for Passage, of Pivot Point International, who helped found the event.
The 2014 recipient was Dick Peach, an Evanston Township High School graduate and general manager of Dempster Auto Rebuilders. Peach is a past president of both the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Evanston, and he served as vice president of the Evanston Environmental Association.
Catalyst Award goes to faculty founders
The Catalyst Award, for a person or group that embodies community partnership, went to five Northwestern faculty members who started companies based in Evanston, according to the university’s announcement:
- Thomas Meade, of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, founder of Ohmx and two other biotechnology companies. Ohmx develops portable electrical detection devices for diagnostics and other uses.
- Joseph Moskal, of the McCormick School of Engineering, founder of Naurex, which developed an antidepressant designed to work within hours.
- Gregory Olson, also of McCormick, founder of the materials design firm QuesTek Innovations.
- Andris Zoltners, of the Kellogg School of Management, and Prabhakant Sinha, formerly of Kellogg, who co-founded the management consulting firm ZS Associates in 1983.
Source: Northwestern University news release, September 2014.
Daniel Okafor covers business, startups and the Innovators section for The Evanston Edge.
