The Dean's Executive Speaker Series

Nicholas Fowler

Chairman and CEO, Northwest Medical Isotopes

A professor and students pose, smiling, in front of a whiteboard in a classroom setting.

As chairman and CEO of Northwest Medical Isotopes, LLC, Nicholas Fowler is head of a startup that assures a domestic supply of critical medical isotopes.

Fowler is a veteran of the high-technology industry, as well as a serial entrepreneur and active seed- stage venture investor. Over the course of 25 years with the Hewlett-Packard Company, he led the creation of several major new businesses, including ventures in notebook computers, personal digital assistants, printing services, Internet sales and support.

Following his HP career, Fowler established Orion Ventures, LLC, an investment fund providing seed-stage investments. He also serves on the boards of several charitable and nonprofit organizations.

Fowler holds a B.A. in economics and an M.S. in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University. He and his wife, Sheila, a teacher at Crescent Valley High School, have three adult children and live in rural Benton County, Ore.

Tips for Success:

Be independent and decisive.
Be determined.
Bad businesses are likely to die of starvation.
Good businesses are at risk of dying from indigestion.
Contribute to and make a difference in the world.
Be frugal. Comfort is for retirement.
Perfect is the enemy of the good.

Favorite Quotes & Aphorisms:

Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. - Micah 6:8
Oh, would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us. - Robert Burns
Better to be silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. - Mark Twain
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like the rock. - Thomas Jefferson
Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept that which I cannot change; the courage to change that which I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. - Reinhold Niebuhr