Endowed fellowship to honor O.C. entrepreneur

November 7th, 2009, 12:49 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist

An endowed fellowship fund is being established to honor the late Luis Villalobos, long-time Orange County businessman and founder of Tech Coast Angels. He died following a brief illness Oct. 1. He was 70.

The Luis Villalobos Endowed Fellowship in Entrepreneurship will be awarded to a graduate MBA student at the UI’s Paul Merage School of Business.

Villalobos was a tireless entrepreneur and investor in young ventures until his death. Tech Coast Angels has grown into the largest angel investor group in the United States with more than 250 members throughout Southern California. He invested in more than 50 startups and mentored at least a dozen company CEOs.

Click here to read more about Villalobos.

“Luis spent most of his life mentoring and training new entrepreneurs,” said Tech Coast Angels Orange County President Richard Sudek. “It’s appropriate that this endowment should continue his mission to help and assist young entrepreneurs.”

The Villalobos Fellowship will attract outstanding students to UCI’s full-time MBA program, Sudek added. Candidates for the endowment must meet all of the requirements for admission to the school and have an interest in entrepreneurship or starting a new business.

The fellowship will only be awarded in years in which there is a suitable candidate.

A celebration of Villalobos’ life is scheduled at 5 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Orange County Wine & Food Center in Costa Mesa.

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