By Phil Weilerstein
This week’s announcement of the closure of Hampshire College is deeply personal for me, and for all of us at VentureWell. It is where our story began. In 1995, meetings on the campus between inventor Jerry Lemelson; Dorothy Lemelson; Greg Prince, Hampshire’s president at the time; and other innovation leaders gave rise to a clear, ambitious vision: When creative students are empowered to be inventors and are given the agency and opportunity to work hands-on to solve a compelling problem, remarkable inventions and deep learning result.
That vision took root there and grew into what VentureWell is today: a global nonprofit catalyzing invention of science and technology solutions, supporting tens of thousands of innovators since our founding, addressing urgent societal needs, and creating economic prosperity by engaging and activating the next generation of innovators to solve society’s biggest challenges.
Simply put, VentureWell would not exist without Hampshire College. Founded in 1970 in Amherst, Massachusetts, Hampshire has long been a bastion of experimental education in the United States, centering curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and self-determination in its curricular philosophy. The school’s model of self-directed, in-depth learning and meaningful engagement with the world shaped not only generations of students but the ethos of our work. Its emphasis on independent thinking, interdisciplinary exploration, and learning by doing is at the core of how we approach our work supporting emerging innovators.
Hampshire’s closure is a symptom of a broader strain across higher education. As institutions face growing financial and structural pressures, we are seeing the loss of places that have long provided much needed pathways to innovation and experimentation. When a school like Hampshire closes, we lose not only a college campus but a distinct way of learning.
This moment carries profound sadness. My thoughts are with the students, faculty, staff, and alumni who made Hampshire College what it is: a place that challenged higher education to be more open, more inventive, and more transformational. As Hampshire alum and filmmaker Ken Burns put it: “Hampshire College is woven into the very fabric of who I am. It’s where I learned that there is freedom in searching, and even in failure.” It’s a sentiment frequently echoed by Hampshire alumni about their time on campus, a shared sense that the college taught them new ways of thinking that were indelibly formative to their identity.
This moment carries profound sadness. My thoughts are with the students, faculty, staff, and alumni who made Hampshire College what it is: a place that challenged higher education to be more open, more inventive, and more transformational.
And yet, what Hampshire set in motion does not end with its physical closure. Its legacy will live on in the people it shaped and the work and ideas it inspired. At VentureWell, we feel a deepened responsibility to carry that forward in practical ways: supporting and connecting science and technology entrepreneurs, strengthening innovation ecosystems, and expanding access to the kind of experiential, collaborative learning that Hampshire championed.
Hampshire taught us that learning should be rooted in experimentation, pushing against convention in pursuit of something better. We are grateful for the strong foundational vision it provided VentureWell, and we remain committed to carrying those ideals forward, thoughtfully, and with the same sense of purpose that started it all more than 30 years ago.
Phil Weilerstein has led VentureWell since its founding. From the beginning, Phil’s focus for VentureWell has been to help bring socially beneficial applications of STEM inventions to market. He’s accomplished this goal by designing and overseeing programs that encourage curricular innovation and student venture creation, provide resources for faculty and student entrepreneurs, and develop community through conferences and workshops for faculty and students. This work builds on his experience as a founder of a biotechnology venture with colleagues from the University of Massachusetts to create better and more inclusive pathways for science and technology inventions to reach scale and beneficial impact on society.