ASHLAND, Ohio – Ashland University’s Winter 2015 Commencement will be on Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. in Kates Gymnasium inside the Physical Education Center on the Ashland University campus. The speaker for the event will be Mark D. Kvamme, co-founder, principal, partner and founding partner at Drive Capital LLC, in Columbus, Ohio.
No tickets will be required for the event, which is open to the public. The ceremony will be streamed live at www.ashland.edu and broadcast live in the Student Center Eagles’ Nest and the Student Center Auditorium.
Before founding Drive Capital in 2012, Kvamme was the interim chief investment officer and president of JobsOhio, a private, nonprofit corporation leading Ohio’s job-creation efforts. He also served as a director of the State of Ohio Department of Development as well as a director of Job Creation at the Ohio Governor’s Office.
Prior to joining JobsOhio, Kvamme was a partner at Sequoia Capital for 12 years, where he led investments in Linkedin, MarkLogic, Cast Iron (IBM), and FunnyOrDie.com. As a venture capitalist at Sequoia, he focused on enterprise data management software and consumer media and advertising services investments. He continues to serve as a special limited partner of Sequoia Capital Israel and as a consultant at Sequoia Capital.
Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 1999, Kvamme was chairman of USWeb/CKS and chairman and CEO of CKS Group prior to the merger with USWeb. From September 1986 to January 1989, he served as an international marketing manager of Wyse Technology Inc. and also served as a director for international marketing for Wyse Technology.
Kvamme served as the CEO and president of International Solutions Inc. from 1984 to 1986 and served as a vice president of marketing for Pillar Corporation.
Earlier in his career, he served as a founding member of Apple France, and from 1980 to 1984, he served in various management positions in international sales and marketing and in product development of Apple Computer Inc., as well as being one of the initial managers of Apple France.
Kvamme received a B.A. degree in French Economics and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985.
