Mellie Price has founded tech companies, nurtured Austin’s startups and brought music to the masses. Her next project is the Dell Medical School.
Price, a UT alumna and longtime Austinite, is Dell Medical School’s new executive director of technology innovation. She said she plans to connect the school with the technology community and help with its mission to make Austin a model healthy city.
“I am a 25-year Austinite and a member of the community that voted the medical school into existence through the bond election,” Price said. “I am also a longtime Austin investor and entrepreneur, having started eight companies in the course of the my career.”
Dell’s mission includes advancing healthcare and redesigning the field of medicine to better serve society. Price’s new position is integral to its mission, according to Mini Kahlon, vice dean for strategy and partnerships at Dell Medical School.
“The stature of the position and its importance to our mission is a first for a medical school,” Kahlon said. “For other schools, this kind of position would generally be in an innovation arm of activities that sit aside from the core business of the school. For us, this work is quite central.”
Price plans to use her expertise as an executive and investor to engage the local tech community.
“I have a breadth of experience, from starting and running companies to make money to putting together fields and negotiating partnerships — that will all be utilized in this role,” Price said.
She established SoftMatch, which connects innovative startups and enterprises. She also founded the investment group Source Spring and the ticket sales company Front Gate Solutions, which Live Nation bought in 2015. Price currently serves on Austin’s Social Innovation Council and the Technology Advisory Committee.
According to Price, the Dell Medical School will improve local quality of care and create more jobs, and the local economy will develop around Austin’s new status as a medical destination city.
“I took this role literally because of my enthusiasm for what the medical school represents in our community,” Price said. “I think that we will quickly see that this is one of the best things to happen in Austin in a very long time.”
