Mike Capone '88 Gives $1 Million to Advance Data Intelligence at Dickinson
Landmark gift to fund student mentorships, internships, research grants and real-world projects—and a new position to connect Dickinson with industry
by Tony Moore
Continuing his generous engagement with Dickinson, Mike Capone '88 has made a transformative $1 million investment in Dickinson's data intelligence efforts, deepening a philanthropic partnership that is reshaping how students engage with one of the defining fields of the modern economy.
The gift establishes the Data Intelligence Initiative, which will fund student mentorships, internship support, research grants and hands-on project experience with real-world applications. It also will create a new position dedicated to building sustained connections between Dickinson and industry—a bridge Capone sees as essential to preparing students for careers that don't yet fully exist.
“The new program director for applied data intelligence will develop new opportunities with partners both on and off campus that will allow our students to engage in meaningful quantitative and data-driven internships and research experiences,” says Dana Somers, associate professor of biology and current director of the Quantitative Reasoning Center, who will oversee the position. “The director will build on the existing Q-Fellows program, expanding it to support more students and provide more structured mentorship, to both students and project partners.”
Capone shares insights with students during a visit to the college's Profiles in Leadership course. In addition to mentoring students through opportunities like this, Capone serves on the college's Board of Trustees. Photo by Joe O'Neill.
The Why & the How
Capone, who for more than eight years served as CEO of Qlik, a global leader in data analytics and AI, spent decades watching the field transform from the inside. That vantage point sharpened his thinking about what Dickinson students need—and what a liberal-arts education uniquely provides.
"The bottleneck is almost never the technology," he says of his years in the industry. "It’s the human layer—people who can look at what the data was telling them, understand the broader context, ask the uncomfortable questions and then communicate a clear path forward to a room full of skeptics. That is a liberal-arts skill set."
What that looks like in practice is already visible. Last fall, a group of Dickinson data analytics students partnered with Kudu Investment Management—led by Rob Jakacki '89—on a semester-long project to help the firm automate its deal-sourcing process. Students built data pipelines, applied natural language processing techniques and developed a ranking framework to help Kudu identify investment opportunities more efficiently. They received academic credit and stipends, and the collaboration will continue indefinitely.
It's exactly the kind of experience Capone's initiative is designed to make possible at scale.
"I want a student who grows up without obvious advantages to walk out of Dickinson with the skills, the experience, the relationships and the confidence to compete with anyone—anywhere," Capone says. "That felt worth investing in."
Investment = graduate success
“Data analytics is about much more than algorithms and statistical models—it's about asking good questions, making sense of complex information and communicating insights that lead to action,” says Dick Forrester, professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Data Analytics. “This investment builds on the distinctive liberal-arts foundation of a Dickinson education, helping students work across disciplines and become thoughtful, adaptable problem-solvers who use data to make a difference in an increasingly complex world.”
A future fundraising phase, with a goal of an additional $500,000, will extend the initiative's reach to faculty development and course innovation. Capone's investment joins those of a group of alumni donors who have supported Dickinson's data analytics efforts over time—a community he credits as essential to the program's momentum.
"Mike's investment reflects exactly the kind of partnership that makes a Dickinson education distinctive—connecting our students' intellectual formation to real-world experience and opportunity,” says President John E. Jones III ’77, P’11. “We are deeply grateful for his generosity and his belief in what this college can do."
Read a full Q&A with Capone on the initiative.
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published July 2, 2026