UND student awarded Ruvelson RAINmaker Fellowship RAIN Source Capital has selected UND student Matt Maurer as the 2007 recipient of its Ruvelson RAINmaker Fellowship. Maurer, a junior, is from Hutchinson, Minn. The Ruvelson Fellowship was established in 2006 as an education al endowment of RAIN Source Capital, a Minnesota non-profit organization. The fellowship honors 91-year-old Alan K. “Bud” Ruvelson, a business pioneer who is considered the “grandfather of the modern venture capital industry” in the United States. The goal of the fellowship is to help develop the next generation of ethical equity investors and community-minded business leaders. As the 2007 Ruvelson Fellow, Maurer will work side-by-side with venture capital professionals and members of the organization’s network of RAINâ funds, angel investment groups that are currently located in the Upper Midwest and Northwest. Maurer was selected from a pool of applicants from five states. He will begin his fellowship in June 2007, working full time with RAIN Source Capital and its network of RAIN funds. During the school year, he will work 10 to 12 hours a week and be housed at the UND Center for Innovation, which supports one of RAIN Source Capital’s RAIN funds and works closely with entrepreneurs to launch new products and ventures. Maurer will also work with the Center for Innovation’s affiliated student-run venture fund, Dakota Venture Group, www.dakotaventuregroup.com. In addition to achieving outstanding academic performance, Maurer is helping to build a company called ARMXX that will produce protective wear for hockey and other sports using a new type of fabric. He also is president of UND’s chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). His community activities include mentoring high school and sixth grade students, working with youth hockey clubs and participating in a church praise band. He also is one of the organizers of project Linus, which sells rubber bracelets to fund the purchase of blankets for children in trauma. Trained as a pilot and initially pursuing an aerospace degree, Maurer learned that he had limited commercial flying opportunities due to his color blindness. He said, “I am looking forward to the Ruvelson Fellowship because my switch to a business education made me appreciate the idea-driven creative process of venture development. Now I am glad to be color-blind.”