Peter Rowan to lead Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at UH Shidler College of Business

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Dolly Omiya, (808) 956-5645
Public Information Officer, College of Business-External Relations Office
Posted: Aug 3, 2017

Peter Rowan
Peter Rowan

Peter Rowan has been named the new executive director of the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE), under the UH Shidler College of Business, effective August 1, 2017. Rowan replaces Susan Yamada, who will lead the renovation and development of the Atherton YMCA, purchased by UH Foundation in 2017, into a Center for Innovation. The center will support entrepreneurial education and the commercialization of university-generated innovations.

Rowan is currently the angel-in-residence at XLR8UH, a startup accelerator program that assists UH entrepreneurs. He was previously the corporate vice president of new ventures at Coinstar from 2001-2010. During his tenure, the company grew from $150 million to $1.3 billion in revenues through the establishment of new businesses and innovative commercial initiatives like its DVD kiosks, money transfer and e-payment programs. At Coinstar, Rowan led more than 20 acquisitions, investments and divestitures, including its investment in Redbox.

Rowan is a writer, entrepreneur and educator. He has taught entrepreneurship and new venture strategy since 2005. Rowan was involved with PACE and served as a judge and mentor for several of its programs and competitions. He is also active in the entrepreneurial community in Hawai‘i as an advisor, lecturer, mentor and investor. Since 2010, Rowan has written numerous works of fiction, including a novel, Inner Circle, in 2012.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Peter lead our entrepreneurship center,” said Dean Vance Roley of the Shidler College of Business. “He brings years of practical experience as an entrepreneur, and is well connected to the high-tech and entrepreneur communities in Hawai‘i and on the U.S. mainland.”

Rowan received a BA in Russian history from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a MA in international policy studies and MBA from Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

For more information, visit: http://shidler.hawaii.edu/