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SALT LAKE CITY—The University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business has joined the ranks of "Entrepreneur Magazine’s" Top 25, winning special recognition for its innovative, experience-based approach to business education (http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges/undergrad/1.html).

SALT LAKE CITY—As an orthopedic and spinal surgeon in training in 2004, Dr. Alpesh Patel knew there had to be a better way to detect when a surgeon accidentally nicks an esophagus or a bowel with a scalpel.

"When it does occur it actually can be pretty devastating to a patient, with a high mortality rate," Patel said. "There wasn't a great way in real time to detect that this injury has occurred." In fact, most leaks aren't detected until after the surgery site is closed and the patient begins to exhibit symptoms of a complication.

Imagine being able to tell if someone is lying based on their eye movement, or how about being able to rid children of head lice without using any chemicals, or using a small device to pinpoint electrical shorts in vehicles.

Students, professors and investors are doing just that through the University of Utah, making the school the largest university generator of startups in the U.S. after tying the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the previous two years.

University of Utah students are earning more than just grades. Intellectual-property rights developed at the school generated licensing fees of more than $54 million over the three-year period from 2007 to 2009.

Y Combinator is considered by many as Silicon Valley's elite start-up school, offering selected entrepreneurs a three-month crash course to help them build companies and raise capital.

But about a five-mile drive up El Camino, on the third floor of AOL Inc.'s offices in Palo Alto, Calif., another start-up accelerator is emerging as a clubhouse of choice for some talented young entrepreneurs.

The School of Business announced last week that there will be a new director of the full-time master's of business administration program.

Linda Wells, executive director of entrepreneurial studies at Stanford Graduate School of Business, will be leaving her position at Stanford to become the director of the U's MBA program and the Sorenson Center for Discovery and Innovation.

The University of Utah has plucked a leader in entrepreneurship education from Stanford University to help lead the David Eccles School of Business.

Linda Wells starts May 1 as director of the U.’s MBA program and the Sorenson Center for Discovery and Innovation. She currently leads Stanford Graduate Business School’s respected Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

“This is a tremendous win not only for the school and the students we serve, but also for Utah’s dynamic entrepreneurial community,” U. business dean Taylor Randall said in a prepared statement.

Jack Brittain, the University of Utah’s tech venture development chief, talks about how his school launched more tech start-ups than MIT in 2009.