News Story

Clark School Benefactor Hinman, ’82, Is Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Clark School alumnus, benefactor, and educational innovator Brian Hinman, ’82 electrical engineering, has been named Entrepreneur of the Year in Communications and Networking by Ernst & Young.

The award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic and growing businesses—and Hinman’s successes as a business builder and leader are legendary. He is most recently co-founder, president and CEO of 2Wire, a provider of broadband service platforms exclusively for the DSL market. Its solutions help DSL providers to offer an integrated "triple-play" of data, voice, and media services. 2Wire's products and services include the award-winning HomePortal residential gateways, the MediaPortal set-top box, and a robust component management system for service management and provisioning.

Hinman also was cofounder and CEO of Polycom, Inc., the world’s leading teleconferencing company. Prior to Polycom, he co-founded PictureTel Corporation at the age of 22. For his technological advances at these two companies, he was inducted into the Clark School’s Innovation Hall of Fame in 2000.

In receiving the award, Hinman competed against 25 finalists from California. He will be eligible for consideration in the national program, which will announce its winners in November.

In addition to achieving his own successes in entrepreneurship, Hinman has made it more likely that others will follow his lead. The Hinman Campus Entrepreneurship Opportunities (CEOs) program was established here in 1999 thanks to a $2.5 million donation from Hinman. The Hinman CEOs is a unique living-learning program offered to undergraduate students interested in entrepreneurial ventures and is jointly run by the Clark School and the R. H. Smith School of Business.

June 23, 2005