About the Kagle Mentoring Program

Through a generous gift to Kettering University by Flint native and GMI (1976) alumnus, Robert C. Kagle, we are able to provide this mentoring program to make all students a success.

Bob Kagle
Bob Kagle was raised by a single mother in Flint, Michigan. She worked hard, for 37 years, on a General Motors production line. Bob's mom gave him a work ethic; GM helped Bob through school as an engineer at Kettering University (formerly known as GMI Institute) where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Graduate school at Stanford taught Bob about business and today, as one of America's premier venture capitalists with Benchmark Capital in Silicon Valley, thousands of startups each year seek Bob's counsel and investment.

With over 20 years of venture capital investment experience, Bob is a veteran of the venture industry. Prior to Benchmark, Bob spent 12 years as a General Partner with Technology Venture Investors. Before TVI, Bob worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he focused on issues of corporate strategy in industries ranging from retail distribution to high technology manufacturing.

Investments: AllPosters.com, Ariba (ARBA), Art.com (acquired by Getty Images), eBags, eBay (EBAY), E-Loan (EELN), Friendster, Get2Chip (acquired by Cadence), Jamba Juice, LogoWorks, PeopleSupport (PSPT), Potbelly, Synopsys, uShip, WorldWinner.com, Zipcar and zipRealty (ZIPR).

Industry Associations: Bob is a past director of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), a past president of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC) and chairman of the board of trustees of Kettering University.

Education: MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1980, General Motors Fellow; BS in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (renamed Kettering University), 1978, Sobey Scholar.

Mentoring is about guiding, advising and role modeling. It is a partnership based on respect and focused on promoting personal and academic development. It is a relationship that will change over time as each person grows, learns and gains experience. It is the hope that through KMP, students who are involved will have additional skills and assets because of the various activities that they are involved with.

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed."

-Carl Jung