Cory Levy is a remarkable young man whose talents help develop the next generation of
engineers required to address the Grand Challenges. His skills in forging social
connectedness, community, and building Social Capital, have helped scores of young
students develop their creativity, enhance their networks, and unleash their
entrepreneurial energies. For the past two years, with uncommon generosity and a
dedication to service, he has been enthusiastically helping peers nationally, and especially
at UIUC and Duke. A HS senior, he has already led classes and delivered inspirational
talks on multiple occasions at Duke University and at iFoundry in the Engineering
college at Illinois, teaching college students how to find mentors, how to turn internships
into full time opportunities, and how build their Social Capital networks by taking on the
attitude of service. I deliver lectures to my students at Duke on Servant Leadership; Cory
enters the classroom and shows them how to live that attitude. As just one testament to
the importance of Cory’s message, dozens of students, at both Illinois and Duke, quote
Cory in their classroom work, and acknowledge his impact on their thinking.
Cory convinced Stanford to co-sponsor his Fall 09 NextGen Conference. He attracted
over 100 college entrepreneurs to this day long event where he brought his special
knowledge on building Social Capital to attendees, and convinced nearly 20
entrepreneurs and VCs to speak and share their wisdom with the kids.
Cory’s service attitude exemplifies the best qualities of this generation of outstanding
young adults.
