"The spirit of entrepreneurship permeates the university," she said. "The energy is palpable when you walk down the hall. It's so exciting."

The Stanford Office of Technology Licensing, she said, has been advising Stanford students and professors about marketing their ideas for decades.

Although he says the aims for far more than following in Stanford's footsteps, Narayamurti agrees that Harvard has some catching up to do.

"Stanford has a culture where they encourage the high-tech students. That's new for Harvard," he said. "In some ways, obviously, Harvard's had some very entrepreneurial students over the years, but on the other hand, emphasizing technology and entrepreneurship is not one the things Harvard did. As an institution or a division, we did not nurture it the way Stanford did."

Stanford has done well by their entrepreneurial spirit. Seelig said donors, to say nothing of students, are attracted to the university's close association with technology start-ups.

"Stanford is very aware of the possible relationships with these companies," she said. "A venture capital company [called the Mayfield fund] underwrites the Mayfield program."

Liberal Arts and Sciences

Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox '59 said this program continues a trend for Harvard, which like many other institutions of higher learning, has drifted away from the paradigm of liberal arts education over the past several decades.