Christian Dickinson
As a leader and administrator in both traditional and virtual education, Christian holds a wealth
of knowledge and familiarity related to collecting and analyzing data. His vast history of
leadership experience makes his background not only unique, but well-rounded. Throughout
his career in education, Christian has participated in the corporate world in the areas of IT
management, Internet marketing and sales, and online course development.
A previous high school Principal, Assistant Principal, IT Administrator, Dean of Students,
mathematics and science teacher, and athletic coach, Christian’s roots are firmly planted in the
educational sector. His concerted efforts involving virtual education were paramount in the
development of online education programs in an array of school districts across the State of
Florida. Offering perspective from each of his past roles, Christian understands and values the
importance of using data to improve student achievement and workplace readiness.
A former and current President and CEO, Christian launched and successfully grew several DOT
COM companies. As far back as 1998, Christian foresaw the significant impact the Internet
would have on commerce, education, and change how people would work. Sixteen years later,
he continues to maintain a prominent presence on the Internet and promotes digital tools in
the workplace and classroom across the country.
His most current venture includes launching a non-profit company, digiTOOL Nation. digiTOOL
Nation's mission is to promote digital tools which foster authentic learning in classrooms and
advance workflow capabilities in the work place. In conjunction with digiTOOL Nation, Christian
acquired Grace Academy in Ormond Beach, Florida in the Spring of 2011. The now reinvented,
30 year old, PreK-8 school is utilizing traditional, Montessori, virtual, and hybrid models to truly
differentiate and customize learning across all grade levels. The last phase in completing his
vision of a model 21st century school is establishing Ormond Beach Preparatory School, grades
9-12, set to open in fall of 2015.
William A. Grimm
Before joining the full time faculty as Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship and Negotiation,
Mr. Grimm practiced law as a securities lawyer for 37 years. While a partner in the law firm of
Gray Robinson, with more than 200 lawyers in nine Florida cities, Mr. Grimm served as an
adjunct instructor in the Rollins MBA program, teaching entrepreneurial finance, negotiation
and entrepreneurship. Mr. Grimm’s law practice focused on technology companies and the
unique problems they face. His engineering background assisted him in becoming general
counsel to many high technology companies in the Central Florida area, including several
publicly held companies. He has handled numerous mergers and acquisitions as well as venture
capital transactions for high technology and other companies and is a well-known speaker in
Central Florida at seminars on venture capital financing and initial public offerings. Additionally,
he has been instrumental in assisting companies in going public and has been a member of the
boards of directors of several high technology companies.
After serving as an officer in the U. S. Navy and prior to attending law school, Mr. Grimm was a
vice president of corporate finance for an investment banking firm and prior to this was the
chief financial officer of a start-up technology company that went through the initial public
offering process. Mr. Grimm served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Rollins Center for
Advanced Entrepreneurship for six years.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State, an MBA
from the University of Florida and his law degree from Stetson University College of Law.
He is the author of many published articles and of What Entrepreneurs Need to Know; Avoiding
Big Mistakes That Can Prevent Success, Trafford Publishing, 2006.
Peter McAlindon
Peter McAlindon, Ph.D., is a 1989 MAS graduate of Embry-Riddle here in Daytona. He is
currently Entrepreneur in Residence at the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of
Business. He also serves as a faculty advisor to Rollins students through the Entrepreneurial
Scholar of Distinction (ESD) program, mentoring teams of students as they find commercial
applications and develop paths to market for technologies developed by NASA.
Dr. McAlindon is the founder and chief executive officer of Blue Orb Inc., a technology company
that develops computer technology for persons with disabilities. Blue Orb Inc. created and now
markets and sells the orbiTouch Keyless Keyboard. The orbiTouch is a patented computer
keyboard and mouse that requires no finger or wrist motion to operate. It was developed for
people who do not have the finger or hand dexterity to use a regular keyboard or mouse. The
orbiTouch has received numerous industry awards and the top honor for accessible technology
at the Consumer Electronics Show. Through Blue Orb, Dr. McAlindon has successfully secured
three rounds of funding from the National Science Foundation’s SBIR program and more than
$5,000,000 in angel investor funding. Dr. McAlindon is in the process of completing a three-year
National Science Foundation grant to help people with disabilities become entrepreneurs.
Additionally, he is a co-founder of venVelo, Florida's newest business accelerator and seed
capital fund.
Mark R. Mohler
Mark Mohler concentrates his practice on the representation of technology companies through
all phases of their life cycle—from startup phase through liquidity event. He represents
companies, owners and outside investors in business transactions, contractual matters, entity
formations, venture capital and private equity financings, project finance, joint ventures,
technology acquisitions, university licenses and public offerings. He has a long history in the
representation of cleantech companies and served as general counsel to a public company
cleantech venture capital fund. Mr. Mohler holds a LLM in Taxation.
Mr. Mohler works closely with his clients in setting strategic direction and structuring missioncritical business transactions. He has acted in a multitude of roles in companies beyond outside
legal counsel—including as a member of boards of directors in both executive and independent
roles. Mr. Mohler was a co-founding entrepreneur of a venture and private equity-backed
multi-national cleantech company and is a serial entrepreneur.
Mr. Mohler has acted as a legal advisor to companies with respect to subsidiaries, project
operations and joint ventures in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Africa and
Australia.
Education:
LL.M Taxation, University of Florida 1998
Juris Doctorate, University of Florida 1994
B.A. Political Science, University of Florida 1992
Activities
& Interests:
Founding CEO of Sprigster, crowdfunding platform
Founding Partner at LaunchPad40 Captal Advisors
Volunteer and Mentor at TrepHub, Inc.
Curator of Startup Digest Melbourne
Organizer of Startup Spacecoast
David Whitney
David Whitney serves as the Entrepreneur in Residence in the University of Florida’s College of
Engineering. In this role, Whitney works with faculty- and student-entrepreneurs to conceive,
launch, fund, and operate companies. He is also a University Instructor and teaches a course,
Engineering Innovation, to College of Engineering students.
Whitney is an experienced management consultant who helps companies of all sizes by
creating innovation strategies and successfully executing action plans that lead to increased
profitability. Whitney’s strengths are in designing and implementing programs that enhance
operating performance and improve companies’ financial results. As a seasoned consultant,
investment banker, private equity investor, and executive coach, Whitney possesses extensive
operating experience, sales and business development skills, expertise in building and operating
winning teams, and thought leadership involving innovation and entrepreneurship.
In addition to his UF roles and management consulting responsibilities, Whitney is a licensed
investment banker and an active angel investor. Whitney advises companies on strategy and
operations, helps companies raise early stage and growth capital, and assists on M&A
transactions, recapitalizations, management buyouts, and going-private transactions. David
previously worked as a senior investment banker at Duncan-Williams, Inc. and holds Series 7
and 63 licenses. Whitney founded and continues to serve as the Managing Director of Energent
Ventures, a private equity firm headquartered in Gainesville, FL. Energent invests equity and
debt capital in companies ranging from startup to emerging growth to later stage.
Before forming Energent Ventures, David was a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Venture Capital
practice in Silicon Valley. In his tenure in Silicon Valley’s venture community, Whitney worked
with early stage, venture-backed companies in technology, telecommunications, media,
healthcare, life sciences, medical device, consumer business, and financial services. He
identified, developed, evaluated, and delivered value-added solutions that enhanced a
company’s operating profitability, increased its revenues, and expanded its market share.
David has thirty-two years professional experience in management consulting specializing in
innovation, private equity, venture capital, capital raising, investment management,
commercial banking, and corporate finance. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration from Boston University and an Executive MBA, with high honors, from the
University of San Francisco. Whitney also received a Certificate in Biotechnology/Healthcare
Entrepreneurship from the University of California-Berkeley as well as a graduate degree, with
high honors, from the University of Florida’s Masters of Real Estate program.