'82 M.S., Computer & Information Science
Partner, Nuventus LLC
Member, University Board of Governors
A photo of Heidi Seifert Douglas as a child shows her balancing easily atop the pedestal of a birdbath. For Heidi, an individual who lacks much natural physical balance, it is a remarkable act. Yet those who know her well will attest that concentration and focus – and a belief that those who do what they love, love what they do – have kept her atop the proverbial pedestal, from her early days working at her father’s nursery business in Norwich, to her academically achieving years at the University of Connecticut, the University of New Haven and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, to her forceful foray into the world of computer science and technology.
Everywhere she has gone, she has left a large footprint. Her loyalty and her compassion have made her lifelong friends, and her willingness to learn new skills have attracted major corporations, small startups and every possible client in between. Managerial positions at Pfizer, Syntex, and Deloitte Consulting taught her how to successfully meld business with science and technology, and her co-founding of Mystic MD, an advanced materials firm, established her fully as an entrepreneur and innovator. She is now on her latest venture, Nuventus, a consulting firm for technology start-ups. Her achievements have been noticed: The Connecticut Technology Council named her a Women of Innovation award finalist in both 2006 and 2009.
What all those achievements don’t say is that Heidi’s father died when she was in college, and she received financial help for school.
“That’s why I am so in favor of supporting whatever we can do to keep kids in school,” she says. “And we particularly support kids in science and engineering, because that’s exactly where we were, back when we had nothing.”
Heidi S. Douglas
