Craig Markovitz

Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship

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Bio

Craig S. Markovitz is an Entrepreneur in Residence in the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and an Assistant Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He is co-founder of Blue Belt Technologies, Inc., a spinoff from the Robotics Institute at CMU and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer for over 7 years. In this capacity, he launched the company, raised capital, managed operations, and led a January 2011 merger with HealthpointCapital. He then transitioned to Chief Operating Officer and helped to lead substantial growth of the company from pre revenue and 18 employees to multi-million in revenue and 150 employees. Craig was a key member of the deal team that led to an acquisition by Smith and Nephew, plc in January 2016 for $275,000,000. In addition, Markovitz was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Spotlight Medical, Inc. Spotlight was a spinoff company based on technology developed jointly by Carnegie Mellon University and The University of Pittsburgh. He managed this company to a successful exit as well. Prior to founding Blue Belt and Spotlight, Craig worked with The Redleaf Group, Inc., a $285 million early-stage venture capital fund, as the Chief Operating Officer of PenNetWorks, LLC at the University of Pennsylvania. He was the recipient of the 2016 Carnegie Science Center Entrepreneur and the 2016 Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association Outstanding Entrepreneur Awards. Markovitz graduated with distinction from the MBA program at the Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University in Chicago with a degree in Entrepreneurship, and graduated cum laude from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA, with a BA in Management. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife and 3 children.

Education

• Carnegie Mellon University - Executive Education (Entrepreneurial Leadership Forum) - 2008
• DePaul University - MBA (Entrepreneurship) - 1995
• Washington & Jefferson College - BA (Business Administration) - 1991

Awards and Honors

• Carnegie Science Awards - Entrepreneur (2016)
• Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association - Outstanding Entrepreneur (2016)

University Service

• Track Coordinator, Coordinator of the MBA Entrepreneurship Track. Responsible for direction and strategy for the MBA Entrepreneurship Track (2017 - 2020)
• Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneur In Residence, As an Entrepreneur In Residence in the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, I participate in University wide entrepreneurial activities, programs and initiatives. In this role I serve as a mentor to students, faculty, staff, alumni, CMU companies and friends of the University to increase the probability of success for all CMU related entrepreneurial activities. (2017 - 2020)
• Center for Machine Learning and Health, Grant Proposal Reviewer, Internal, Reviewer and Swartz Center Liaison, Review grant proposals focusing on commercial potential, attend CMLH events, mentor grant recipients, provide networking and advice as the Swartz Center point of contact to CMLH staff and programs (2017 - 2018)
• McGinnis Business Competition, Faculty Mentor, Mentor, coach and advisor to student teams competing in the McGinnis event. (2018 - 2018)
• MCS MyCORE 2015, Guest Speaker, Participation as a guest lecturer for the Mellon College MCS MyCORE course. Three week seminar on entrepreneurship (2018 - 2018)
• Global Entrepreneurship Week, Event Coordinator, Team Mentor, Attendee, Helped to coordinate and promote various events during Global Entrepreneurship Week at CMU and Pitt. Participated as an attendee, mentor, facilitator and advisor for a number of events over the course of the week (2017 - 2017)
• LaunchCMU, Attendee, Meeting, Help with preparation, setup, attendance and networking (2017 - 2017)
• Entrepreneur Boot Camp, Guest Speaker, Assisted with planning, promotion, set up, and facilitation of the event. Also presented experiences and provided advice to students interested in entrepreneurship (2017 - 2017)
• MIST eBusiness Final Practicum, Case Competition, Served as a judge for the eBusiness final presentations (2017 - 2017)

Public Service

• Highmark Health/Allegheny Health Network, Committee Member, Program Coordination and Sponsorship Funding (2018 - 2020)
• Philips Innovation, Point of contact to assist Philips with exposure to CMU opportunities, Campus Activity Coordination and Program Sponsorship (2017 - 2020)
• Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, Event attendee, speaker and marketing partner, Event Attendance and Marketing Assistance (2017 - 2018)
• LG Group, Attendee, Meeting, Represented CMU re: meeting between Re2 and LG group (2017 - 2017)
• Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association, Attendee, Meeting, Pittsburgh Venture Capital Fair (2017 - 2017)
• Pittsburgh Biomedical Breakfast, Guest Speaker, CMU/Swartz Center Promotion (2017 - 2017)

Professional Activities

• Board of Advisors, University of Pittsburgh, Center for Medical Innovation (January 2015 -)
• Board Member, Operation Walk: Pittsburgh (January 2017 - December 2020)
• Board Member, Product Development and Marketing Association, Board of Directors (June 2017 - May 2018)