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About Us

A unique forum for representatives from universities and industry to find better ways to partner

UIDP tackles strategic and tactical challenges impacting the environment for research collaboration. We’re not a lobbying organization. We are a solutions-oriented organization where our members identify issues impacting university-industry (U-I) relations and opportunities to develop new approaches to working together.

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Members of the UIDP work together to:

  • Maximize the potential of existing collaborations and partnerships along the entire Partnership Continuum.
  • Build new networks and opportunities for future collaboration.
  • Remove barriers to joint research project success.

Many of the finest innovation companies and best research universities in the world belong to UIDP, representing a broad cross-section of industry sectors, organizations and academic institutions. Working together, we develop and disseminate practical solutions to shared challenges impeding collaboration success, irrespective of who we are or where we work.

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Identifying new partners

While UIDP’s focus is on developing practical solutions to address obstacles to collaboration, we know how challenging it can be to identify new partners with the right combination of shared values and strategic and technical competencies. We offer UIDP members several ways to identify and connect with potential new partners. Our conferences are a primary avenue to share approaches, collaborate while establishing important connections, and solve contemporary partnership challenges. UIDP relies on member organizations to provide host facilities and support in-person conferences. Most conference sites are secured years in advance.

Our Mission

The UIDP supports mutually beneficial university-industry collaborations by developing and disseminating strategies for addressing common issues between the two sectors.

Our Values

Respect
  • The development of a deep understanding and respect of the diverse goals, missions, and cultures between our universities and companies, and appreciation of the synergy that they can afford
Open communication
  • An environment where mutual respect fosters candor and communication
Commitment to making a difference
  • Innovation for the public good, maximizing to the greatest extent possible, the information and products that will ultimately be available to the public
  • Mutual commitment to sharing our experiences, diverse perspectives, and expertise, and lead to high impact training and professional development
  • Alignment of the varied goals and cultures of university and industry in pursuit of innovation and research
  • Strategic, result-oriented thinking and the development of practical, active demonstrations or pilots
  • Recognition of the benefits of university-industry collaborations and the opportunity lost when mutually beneficial agreements cannot be reached
Integrity
  • An appropriate level of trust based upon personal engagement and shared experiences
  • A commitment to principled and transparent negotiations
Responsiveness
  • A commitment to rapidly respond to evolving challenges and opportunities to enhance partnerships

UIDP Team

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Tony Boccanfuso

President & CEO

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Since 2007, Anthony (Tony) Boccanfuso has led UIDP – serving as executive director when UIDP was convened under the National Academies and since 2015, when the partnership became an independent nonprofit, as president and CEO.

After completing his doctorate in inorganic chemistry, Boccanfuso began his 30-plus-year career in research and commercialization roles. He managed administrative, programmatic, and strategy initiatives for academic and government organizations (including the NIH and NSF) and also worked in the private sector, where he served as a consultant to major research organizations seeking to maximize their work’s impact.

Tony is part of the leadership for the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA), an NSF-funded initiative with a mission to identify and develop new engineering research directions and catalyze high-impact research that benefits society.

Tony’s wife, Dr. Laura Boccanfuso, is a successful and accomplished roboticist and entrepreneur who founded Van Robotics, an edtech company.  They have three grown children and reside in Columbia, SC.

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Kevin Byrne

Treasurer

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As the president and CEO of The University Financing Foundation (TUFF), Kevin has achieved national recognition as a creative problem solver for institutions facing the traditional dilemma of insufficient capital resources.

He pioneered TUFF’s non-traditional approach to public-private partnerships, real estate financing structures, and economic development initiatives for university research parks and innovation districts. His strength is the ability to translate complex real estate solutions into true resource-saving solutions for institutional executives and boards.

Kevin graduated with honors from Furman University in 1991, where he currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees, and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He serves on the board of Georgia’s Partnership for Inclusive Innovation and we was previously appointed by Georgia’s lieutenant governor to the Georgia Public Private Partnership Guidelines Commission. He also served on two Brookings Institution advisory committees – the Innovation District Initiative and the Bass Placemaking Initiative.

Kevin is board chairman of Young Life for Metro Atlanta, an Eagle Scout, and a member of the board of directors for the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He serves on the board of trustees of Whitefield Academy and chairs the finance committee. He is an avid golfer and little league baseball coach.

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Josh Aebischer

ERVA Program Specialist

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Josh Aebischer brings experience from eight years in the insurance industry to his role as ERVA program specialist. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and religious studies from Appalachian State University. He enjoys sports and playing chess in his free time.

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Natalie Brown

UIDP Program Coordinator

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Natalie is a 2022 graduate of the University of South Carolina, majoring in psychology with a minor in criminal justice. She was born and raised in Austin, TX, where she grew up with her parents and dog, Leo. While seeking her bachelor’s degree, she was involved in a criminal justice research project and interned at the South Carolina Attorney General’s office, working in both the VAWA/Human Trafficking Unit and the Medicaid Recipient Fraud Unit. She previously worked as a client representative and a corporate trainer for Redis Marketing Inc. Natalie lives in historic downtown Columbia with her cat, Lula.

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Brian Carter

UIDP Special Projects Consultant

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Brian has over 25 years of experience working in pharmaceutical research and high performance computing, and 10 years of experience in strategic partnerships for U-I collaboration. Before joining University College London (UCL), Brian was corporate relations coordinator at the University of Cambridge. Brian focuses on the development of strategic partnerships between external organizations and UCL researchers in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. He has a particular interest in work related to small molecule drug discovery, structural biology, and informatics. Brian earned his graduate and doctorate degrees from the University of Natal in South Africa.

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Emma Dunn

Operations Specialist

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Emma earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Winthrop University. Originally from Blythewood, SC, Emma has over five years of experience in operational projects. Most rewarding to her is finding creative solutions to unique problems. Outside of work, Emma enjoys drawing, painting, and other creative endeavors as well as spending time with her fur babies.

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Melissa Erekson

Project Consultant

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Melissa is the principal of Clio & Associates, a consulting practice that delivers solutions for university-industry collaborations. She has 16 years of experience in university-industry relations, including leadership positions at both Tulane University and the Pennsylvania State University. Melissa has demonstrated experience in using data to make decisions on pursuing “big ideas” with the most strategic industry partners while working across academic and corporate silos to inform and support large-scale initiatives for impact. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish studies from Tufts University as well as an MBA with a concentration in international marketing from the FW Olin School of Business at Babson College.

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Caroline Farrell

Marketing Communications Specialist

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Caroline is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she majored in advertising and minored in retail. She has always had a passion for leveraging creativity to connect with audiences. Prior to joining UIDP, Caroline honed her skills through various internships and extracurricular activities, gaining valuable experience in the world of marketing. Caroline enjoys reading in her free time and treasures quality time with friends.

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Natoshia Goines

Senior Manager of Events and AI Strategy

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Natoshia has 15 years of professional experience in meeting planning and managing small- and large-scale meetings and conferences. Prior to joining UIDP, Natoshia worked as a meeting professional for a large corporation, a consulting firm, a university, and a nonprofit. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public health from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in executive leadership from Liberty University. In her spare time, Natoshia loves volunteering in the community through various local initiatives.

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Morgan Jones-King

Chief Program Officer

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As the UIDP chief program officer, Morgan ensures that all UIDP event programming is curated to meet the needs of  members and practitioners in the university-industry partnership landscape. Morgan, a certified archivist, is a proud Tar Heel, as she earned both a master’s degree in library science and a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before joining UIDP, Morgan worked for the South Carolina Department of Archives and History as the electronic records archivist. She resides in Columbia, SC with her husband, Benjamin, and their daughter.

Abishai Kelkar

Abishai Kelkar

Project Consultant

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Abishai is a graduate of international studies and religious studies from the University of South Carolina with experience in project management. He has successfully led and managed complex international projects in alignment with U.S. government objectives, specifically in the fields of nonproliferation and emerging technologies. At CRDF Global, Abishai executed over $4 million in international research and technology security projects on topics of research security, illicit technology transfer, export controls, due diligence/know-your customer best practices, and malign talent acquisition programs, leading teams and engaging diverse stakeholders across Africa, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

Prior to this role, Abishai served in a project and programmatic support role at UIDP, managing the conception, development, and execution of UIDP webinars and  supporting the UIDP project portfolio. He has a love for travel and experiencing different cultures, particularly through their cuisine and a passion for music and drums. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

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Michelle Lubaczewski

Operations Coordinator

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Over the past eight years, Michelle has contributed to the UIDP mission through operational initiatives, career center facilitation, and coordinating member-focused events around the world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University and a master’s degree in human resource management from Rutgers University. Her professional background includes 10 years as assistant director at the Rutgers Employment Center, three years as a faculty member at DeVry University, and four years as a test administrator for graduate law and medical school entrance examinations. Outside of the office, Michelle loves to travel to new places, read all types of books, and spend weekends on the lake with family and friends.

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Sandy Mau

Chief Partnerships Officer

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As UIDP’s chief partnerships officer, Sandy is responsible for development, membership services, and marketing and communications strategy across the organization. She brings more than 20 years of experience in strategy, project development and execution, and multi-channel communication to the UIDP team. Sandy has bylined hundreds of articles and reports, specializing in making complex topics accessible to a broad audience. She is a proud alumna of the University of California, San Diego.

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Spike Narayan

ERVA Executive Director

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Chandrasekhar “Spike” Narayan is a seasoned Silicon Valley executive. Most recently, he managed IBM’s California Research Lab, which focused on innovative research in AI, semiconductor technology, and quantum computing. He was responsible for driving science and technology at the lab, leading fundamental and applied research. Narayan also managed innovation for the division and was responsible for research partnerships.

Spike has held several research and management positions in IBM at the Almaden and Watson Research Laboratories and has received many awards for his technical contributions. He was a master inventor in IBM Research and has more than 150 global patents to his credit. He was also a member of IBM’s Academy of Technology.

Spike earned a doctorate in metallurgy and materials engineering from Lehigh University.

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Lily Neal

Membership Data Coordinator

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As the membership data coordinator, Lily works with UIDP members and staff to ensure all member information is both up to date and confidential. This ensures the maximum experience for UIDP membership organizations. Before joining UIDP, Lily served in both the public service and corporate sectors in team development and collaboration. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and sales from Western Carolina University. Lily is a dedicated military spouse and a proud mom of twins.

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Chris Ramming

Senior Strategic Advisor

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Chris Ramming is a technology and research management strategist with a passion for working at the intersection of theory and practice. Before joining UIDP as senior strategic advisor, he served as VMware’s senior director of research and innovation, with responsibility for several innovation programs, including the company’s global academic Chris has a background in computer science with degrees from Yale and UNC Chapel Hill.

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Ashley Richardson

ERVA Program Manager

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Ashley Richardson is an entrepreneur and product development specialist with an economics degree from Georgia State University. Fueled by a love for social impact, she has earned recognition as an award-winning serial entrepreneur, embodying a commitment to excellence and innovation.

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Kelsey Sadlier

Membership Engagement Manager

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Kelsey Sadlier brings her 7 years of membership experience from the South Carolina State Museum to her role as membership engagement manager. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and business law at Western Carolina University. Kelsey is a native to Columbia, and lives with her two dogs. She enjoys motorsports and reading in her free time.

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Mohammed Salehin

Accounting & Grants Manager

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Mohammed Salehin recently moved to the Columbia area from Virginia. He served in the U.S. Army, graduated from the University of Virginia, and brings over 10 years of experience, including non-profit and government finance administration. Away from the office, you will find him at the gym, enjoying a soccer game, or spending time with his family.

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Emily Shorkey

ERVA Operations Manager

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Emily is a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) who has worked with organizations nationwide and brings administrative expertise in general operations, events, compliance, and board governance. Most recently, Emily served as the director of operations for Volunteers of America Michigan where she focused on enhancing and streamlining processes across service lines. Emily completed her master’s degree in nonprofit leadership and management from Arizona State University in 2023. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University where she dual majored in public and nonprofit administration and community development,  minored in event management, and received a certificate in international non-governmental organization administration. Emily was born and raised in Michigan and enjoys traveling, volunteering, and spending time with her dog, Ella.

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Rebecca Springfield

Chief Administrative Officer

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Rebecca, our chief administrative officer, has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate and non-profit relations. Her expertise covers a wide range of areas, including public relations, human resources and employee relations, event planning, and business and program management. She earned a master’s degree in leadership from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. Rebecca resides in Irmo, SC with her husband, a retired Marine Corps helicopter pilot, and their two daughters.

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Nancy Stoehr-Campbell

 Senior Marketing Communications Manager

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As UIDP’s senior marketing communications manager, Nancy leads strategic initiatives to strengthen the organization’s reputation among members, non-members, and potential partners. Through integrated, multi-channel communications, she drives engagement, builds awareness, and reinforces UIDP’s position as a trusted leader in collaboration and innovation.

With more than two decades of experience in the aerospace, defense, and high-tech manufacturing industries, Nancy has a proven track record of enhancing brand visibility, fostering stakeholder trust, and crafting compelling messaging that supports business growth. Her expertise spans media relations, public affairs, crisis communications, and government relations, allowing her to navigate complex challenges and deliver impactful messaging that supports business growth. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the University at Buffalo.

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Madison Stone

Graphic Design Consultant

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Madison is a designer and illustrator from Columbia, SC. She graduated from the University of South Carolina Honors College and received her bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design and illustration. In her free time, Madison enjoys creating art, Braves baseball, and listening to true crime podcasts.

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Kristina Thorsell

Senior Project Advisor

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As UIDP’s senior project advisor, Kristina manages UIDP’s project portfolio. The portfolio covers a wide array of topics relating to contracting, strategic partnerships, workforce development, and government engagement. For more than seven years, Kristina has worked at the intersection of university, industry, and government. She seeks to identify barriers to cross-sector collaboration and use crowd-sourcing techniques to create solutions and opportunities for lowering barriers and creating a stronger innovation ecosystem. Previously, Kristina held positions with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Academy of Sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Purdue University and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Maryland. She also regularly attends association management, project management, and meeting facilitation training. Kristina resides in Vienna, VA with her husband, Ben, and her dog, Vsepr.

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Brent Tschikof

Program Manager

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Brent is a retired lieutenant colonel from the United States Air Force. He holds a master’s degree in management from American Military University and is a certified project management professional. Brent is passionate about program management and family. He enjoys golf, football and supporting his children’s competitive swimming endeavors.

UIDP Interns

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Caylee Busbee

Events Intern

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Caylee is a hospitality major at the University of South Carolina. Originally from Gaston, South Carolina, she is passionate about event planning and enjoys creating meaningful experiences that bring people together.

UIDP Senior Fellows

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Elaine Brock

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Elaine Brock has long worked with UIDP in our programming and as a project manager on our Contract Accords and Master Agreements projects, both of which develop practical guidance and materials to help parties negotiating collaborative research agreements. She is president & senior partner at Contracts, Compliance, and Conflict of Interest Authority, LLC, where she provides advice and counsel to universities and small business on research administration issues.

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Todd Cleland

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Todd Cleland recently retired from his role as senior director for corporate relations at the University of Washington (UW), where he led the central corporate relations team. Todd’s team focused on supporting and growing UW’s top 30 corporate relationships and on leading strategic projects to enhance corporate engagement. His leadership resulted in the creation of a fee-based capstone program in the College of Engineering and the launch of a pre-paid IP program for corporate-sponsored projects.

Todd has been involved with UIDP for over 10 years. He has served as UW’s member representative and has actively participated in many UIDP conferences and events, including several appearances as a panel speaker. Todd has also worked on several UIDP projects and served on the project committee. Additionally, he has had a long involvement with the Network for Academic Corporate Relations Officers (NACRO), where he served on the board of directors, numerous committees, and as co-president; in this role, he helped lead a major refresh of NACRO’s strategic plan.

Todd joined UW in 2010 after 20+ years at Hewlett-Packard (HP). During his HP career, he worked in R&D and management roles in its semiconductor and inkjet printing businesses and in the chief technology office, where he led new business programs and supported merger and acquisition activities. Todd helped to develop the printheads that enabled HP’s first photo printers. Todd’s technical experience includes digital printing, displays, microfabrication, and microfluidics; he is an inventor on 20 issued patents. Todd earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, both in chemical engineering; he also has a dual master of science and business administration degree in technology management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.

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Nerissa Draeger

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Dr. Nerissa Draeger is a senior innovation leader in the Office of the CTO at Lam Research, a semiconductor equipment company. Her vision for innovation lies at the intersection of emerging technologies, strategy, and people.

As director of global university engagements at Lam, she leads open innovation programs, guides external research collaborations, and builds academic partnerships to foster diversity in Lam’s technology and talent pipelines. She has overseen collaborations with more than 80 academic institutions across five continents, translating academic research into commercial impact.

Prior to this role, Draeger led various programs in advanced materials, emerging electronic devices, and strategic business and intellectual property development.

She earned a PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Michigan.

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Natascha Eckert

UIDP Senior Fellow

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For more than 20 years, Natascha has been active in various leadership roles within corporate research and innovation at SIEMENS AG and OSRAM GmbH. She has a long-year experience in the university-industry-business, currently managing Siemens’ global strategic partner program with universities, research institutes, and academic startups: the Siemens Research and Innovation Ecosystem Program (Siemens RIE). For many years Natascha has coordinated the company’s engagement in manifold external research and innovation organizations and committees. She holds seats in various international academic bodies.

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Jilda Garton

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Jilda previously served as the vice president for research and general manager of the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) and Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation (GTARC) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In that role, she was responsible for the financial and business affairs of GTRC and GTARC, including licensing of intellectual property created at Georgia Tech. She also directed the activities of the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Office of Research Integrity Assurance, and the Office of Industry Engagement.

Jilda has long been active nationally in research policy matters. She served on the board of directors of the Council on Governmental Relations (1999-2004), including two years as chair of the Contracts and Intellectual Property Committee. She also served on the UIDP Board of Directors, co-chairing the Contracts Accords working group. Jilda has also served as a member of the faculty of the National Council of University Research Administrators’ professional education programs.

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Anna-Marie Greenaway

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Anna-Marie Greenaway is completing her doctorate degree at the University of Cambridge following a 30-year career in the energy industry, most recently as global director of international research partnerships at BP. In this role, Anna-Marie worked closely with the University of Cambridge and until September 2020, served on the advisory committees of the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, Scott Polar Research Institute, and the BP Institute for Multiphase Flow as well as the Clean Energy Centre at Tsinghua University, Beijing and the PROSPER low carbon rural energy project at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, India. In 2017, she was appointed to the Science Advisory Council for the UK government Department of Transport and remains a member of the council while undertaking her part-time doctoral research in the department of engineering at the University of Cambridge. Anna-Marie’s academic background is in Earth sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (RHBNC), University of London and a master’s degree in sustainability leadership from the University of Cambridge with a dissertation on strategic road mapping for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies in China. Her doctorate is supervised by Rob Phaal and aims to explore the development of strategic road mapping frameworks and toolkits to assure delivery of net zero carbon emissions.

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Randolph Hall

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Randy is a professor in the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on how universities innovate in their practices for education, research, and clinical care, and how they overcome the obstacles to change. As vice president of research for 14½ years, he led research initiatives across the university, overseeing research advancement, administration, and ethics activities. Randy has contributed to numerous national organizations, including service as board chair for UIDP and chair of our Joint Employment project committee.

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Pramod Khargonekar

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Pramod Khargonekar serves as a co-principal investigator of the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA), a neutral convener funded by the National Science Foundation. ERVA helps identify and develop bold, transformative new engineering research directions to support the engineering community’s pursuit of innovative, high-impact research that benefits society.

Most recently serving as vice chancellor for research and as Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Irvine. Khargonekar has more than four decades of experience as a scholar, educator, and leader in academic institutions and government organizations. He is an expert in control and systems theory, cyber-physical systems, and applications to manufacturing, renewable energy and smart grids, and biomedical engineering. Most recently, he has focused on the intersection of machine learning with control and estimation.

In addition to his technical expertise, Khargonekar is deeply interested in improving the processes that connect research to innovation. Motivated by a strong belief in the value of inclusion and diversity, he has championed creative new approaches to addressing long-standing disparities. He co-led the creation of NSF INCLUDES, the agency’s flagship inclusion and diversity program, which has engaged more than 35,000 people.

He has also advanced the convergence research paradigm—one of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas—which reframes multidisciplinary research as collaborative, team-based inquiry. His contributions span emerging topics such as the future of work, energy system transformation, the food-energy-water nexus, and resilient infrastructure systems and processes.

Most recently, he co-led the chapter on climate change mitigation and adaptation for Control for Societal-scale Challenges: Road Map 2030, developed by a working group within the IEEE Control Systems Society.

With a lifetime of experience in research universities, Khargonekar remains committed to exploring new ideas and approaches that will shape the future of higher education in the 21st century.

Karl Koster

Karl Koster

UIDP Senior Fellow

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At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Karl Koster designed and implemented partnership strategies between MIT, large corporations, startup companies, U.S. and international government organizations, and the surrounding innovation ecosystem. From 1999 to 2022, he led the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (260+ corporate members) and launched the MIT Start Up Exchange (1400+ MIT spin-outs), fostering strong corporate relationships between MIT and the surrounding innovation ecosystem. Throughout his tenure, his office led the field of university/industry relations into the global and regional networked landscape of today. The MIT team catalyzed and supported numerous major international programs that established programmatic linkages between universities, industry, and governments in support of regional entrepreneurship and research commercialization strategies.

Karl remains an MIT affiliate. Most recently, his team took the lead at MIT and across other universities in developing new approaches to university/corporate interactions, including extensive remote delivery offerings, that addressed recent pandemic-related challenges. He previously served as chairman of UIDP and has long been a UIDP leader dedicated to strengthening university-industry partnerships.

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Deborah Radasch

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Deborah Radasch brings over four decades of aerospace experience, specializing in defining technology strategies that foster collaboration among industry, academia, and government agencies. Her expertise is rooted in her leadership of Boeing Research & Technology’s Strategic Universities program, where she cultivated impactful partnerships and advanced innovation. In this role, she was responsible for the $13 million portfolio selection and management of Boeing’s corporate R&D portfolio. Most recently, Radasch led a systems engineering team responsible for defining all of the requirements for supplier support of the more than 600 BR&T research projects.

Trained as a corporate facilitator, Radasch brings a diverse aerospace background, having served as chief of staff for three chief technology officers, led the skills team for systems engineering, and introduced a successful “Intrapreneuring Program” within Phantom Works. She has also served in other leadership roles in engineering, technology, business development, manufacturing, and supplier management for both development and production programs. Radasch earned her doctorate in decision sciences from Saint Louis University and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in operations research and decision sciences from The Pennsylvania State University.

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Malcolm Skingle

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Malcolm Skingle managed GSK’s Academic Liaison unit, with staff in the U.S. and U.K. for almost 30 years until recently retiring. His former role involved close liaison with several groups outside the company, including government departments, research, and funding councils. He sat on many external bodies, including the BBSRC Council and the HEFCE REF Main Panel A. He currently sits on the UKRI Infrastructure Advisory Committee and several U.K. university department advisory groups. Malcolm chairs the Diamond (Synchotron) Industrial Advisory Board and the Science Industry Partnership, as well as several other groups.

Malcolm was awarded a CBE in the 2009 Queens Birthday Honours list for services to the pharmaceutical industry. He holds a B.Sc. in Pharmacology/Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology and was awarded an honorary professorship at the University of Birmingham and honorary degrees from the Universities of Hertfordshire and Brunel. He is an elected fellow of the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College and the Academy of Medical Sciences. Malcolm has authored more than 70 publications, including articles on the interface between industry and academia.

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Jim Spohrer

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Jim Spohrer serves on the International Society of Service Innovation Professionals (ISSIP) board of directors. At IBM, he worked in open source AI/data, and led the Global University Programs, IBM Almaden service research, and the chief technology office in the IBM Venture Capital Relations group. At Apple, he achieved Distinguished Engineer Scientist Technologist (DEST) for authoring and learning platforms. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he developed speech recognition systems at Verbex (Exxon) and at Yale University, where he earned a doctorate in computer science and artificial intelligence. With over 90 publications and nine patents, Jim’s awards include AMA ServSIG Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Service Discipline, Evert Gummesson Service Research, Vargo-Lusch Service-Dominant Logic, Daniel Berg Service Systems, and PICMET Fellow for advancing service science.

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Bob Starbuck

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Bob Starbuck served more than three decades in the pharmaceutical industry, where he led biostatistics, clinical programming, clinical data management, forms design, medical writing, and field monitoring functions. He has chaired an American Statistical Association (ASA) section and ASA committees, and is an ASA Fellow and recipient of the ASA Founders Award. Bob previously served as treasurer of UIDP and chair of the North Carolina State College of Sciences Foundation Board of Directors. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Miami University and his master’s and doctorate degrees in Statistics from North Carolina State University.

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Stewart Tansley

UIDP Senior Fellow

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Stewart Tansley retired in 2024 with over 20 years of experience supporting industry-academic research partnerships, which followed 15 years in industrial research and development as a software research engineer and manager in telecommunications. Most recently, he led business development for research collaborations at Amazon Science. He managed strategic academic partnership contract negotiations and secured science investments across the company. Previously, he supported academic research partnerships at Facebook Research, Yahoo Labs, and Microsoft Research. His first 10 years focused on research and development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, primarily for data networking in the UK, EU, and United States. He then moved into satellite network systems design, program management, and technical outreach for advanced networking technologies. He ultimately focused on embedded systems with academic researchers, particularly in robotics and novel user interfaces, including accessibility applications.

After earning his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence applied to engineering from Loughborough University (UK) in 1989, Tansley published research on robotics for education, user interfaces, AI, and network management. He was also awarded several patents. In 1993, he co-authored a textbook on software engineering for AI applications and an accompanying training course. In 2009, he co-edited The Fourth Paradigm, collating visionary essays on the emerging field of data-intensive science.

UIDP Board (Voting Members)

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Padma Raghavan, Board Chair

Vanderbilt University

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Padma Raghavan is the chancellor’s executive director for science and technology strategy and distinguished professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University, where she previously served as vice provost for research and innovation and chief research officer.

Padma’s roles have encompassed the advancement of the university’s research and innovation portfolio, including technology transfer and commercialization spanning the university and medical center as well as the development of strategic partnerships. Such partnerships include Ancora Innovation, with Deerfield Management to accelerate the development and delivery of life-changing therapeutics from bench to patient, as well as Army Pathfinder, a program to rapidly advance mission-critical science and technology.

In her faculty role, Padma specializes in high-performance computing (aka supercomputing), focusing on developing algorithms for scalable, fault-tolerant, and energy-efficient computing. She has authored over one hundred peer-reviewed publications and supervised nearly fifty master’s degree and Ph.D. theses. Padma has received several recognitions including the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, and elevation to fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She is also active in the profession, currently serving on the advisory committees Office of International Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation, and on the Board of Governors of UT-Battelle, which operates the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  In 2022, Padma was appointed to a two-year term on the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Prior to joining Vanderbilt in 2016 from the Pennsylvania State University, Padma served as the associate vice president for research and strategic initiatives, the founding director of the university-wide institute for computational and data sciences, and as distinguished professor of computer science and engineering.

Karen Chandross

Karen Chandross, Incoming Chair

Sanofi

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Karen Chandross serves as head of External Innovation, North America R&D at Sanofi. She and her team are responsible for leading R&D partnering initiatives (iAwards, iDEA-iTECH) and strategic collaborations (Stanford Immunology) with internal and external stakeholders to accelerate portfolio progression, enable the implementation of new technologies, and enhance Sanofi’s reputation as a leading biomedical organization in the region.

She has been at the forefront of innovating through collaboration throughout her 20+ years of R&D experience. She has a consistent track record of bringing scientists together from different disciplines to de-risk and advance cutting-edge solutions for impact across R&D. At Sanofi, she has led new therapeutic strategies, advanced novel targets through the value chain, and served as translational medicine lead to early development projects. Among her accomplishments is establishing the Sanofi iDEA Awards, which bring cutting-edge AI tools to R&D projects and led the charge to establish the Open Innovation Lab, a new partnering model that brings external innovators into the Cambridge Crossing labs to strengthen cross-training and collaboration impact.

Chandross earned her doctorate in molecular neuroscience at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, then completed her postdoctoral training and served as a senior staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke before joining Sanofi. She remains active in the scientific community and is a strong advocate for early career scientists.

JohnWilson

John Wilson, Immediate Past Chair

GSK

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John Wilson serves as a director and academic liaison at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), managing large-scale academic-business collaborations, supporting GSK scientists, and training U.S. academic liaison team members. He is a registered technology transfer professional with more than 22 years of experience at GSK, starting as a toxicologist, then guiding project teams and managing external partnerships.

He is passionate about addressing challenges in collaboration and is a skilled negotiator and partnership builder. John holds a master’s degree in neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine.

Pete Ellingson

Pete Ellingson, Industry Director

Procter & Gamble

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Pete Ellingson has more than 30 years of experience developing technologies, leading innovation teams, and managing open innovation programs at The Procter & Gamble Co. His P&G career spanned two business units and five product categories before he began his current role nearly seven years ago in Corporate R&D, Connect & Develop.

As R&D director for open innovation, Pete champions numerous academic partnerships and supports open innovation strategy for projects spanning polymer science, surfactant science, life science, and AI/ML. For more than 15 years, he has also played a leading role in Ph.D. recruiting, co-developing the P&G PhD Career Workshop, which is now used across the company’s North American Ph.D. recruiting program.

Pete has 24 years of experience developing technologies for consumer packaged goods, with a focus on surface science, polymer formulations, adhesion, and skin science, resulting in 57 granted patents. Internally, he led the Polymer Community of Practice for more than 10 years and currently contributes to the Materials & Chemistry Community of Practice Leadership Team and the PhD Internship Review Panel.

He has served on the advisory board for the Michigan Materials Research Institute at the University of Michigan, is a member of the American Chemical Society (more than 33 years), and supports both the UIDP Finance Committee and the UIDP Midwest Planning Committee.

Pete earned a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he received multiple industry-sponsored awards, an outstanding teaching assistant award, and completed a five-month graduate student internship at Dow. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.

Outside of work, he enjoys a range of sports and outdoor activities, including ice hockey, skiing, curling, upland hunting, canoeing, camping, and backpacking.

Jarrett Ellis circle 2023

Jarrett Ellis, University Director

Georgia Institute of Technology

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Jarrett Ellis serves as associate director of corporate and international contracting at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In this role, he is responsible for managing day-to-day contracting activities and related matters for enterprise-level collaborations, project administration activities and related matters, implementing policies and procedures in support of the research collaboration process, and developing and deploying strategic initiatives for continued growth in corporate and international engagement. Jarrett is also an active supporter and collaborator for educational leadership initiatives on campus, such as Georgia Tech’s Commission on Research Next, the Inclusive Leaders Academy, and the Leadership Forward Emerging Leaders Development Program.

Before joining Georgia Tech, Jarrett practiced law at a multinational firm in Atlanta, where he represented and advised corporate clients in strategic matters, including governance, securities transactions, mergers and acquisitions, technology sales and licensing, and data privacy and security. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Oral Roberts University, a master’s degree in English education from Georgia State University, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgia State University.

Jarrett has been a consistent participant and leader in educational meetings at UIDP. He serves on the UIDP membership committee, having previously served on the finance and communications committees.

Kathy Lynch circle

Kathy Lynch, University Director

Yale University

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Kathy serves as the university executive director of corporate strategy & engagement at Yale University. She brings more than 20 years of experience in industry partnerships, university-based research, cross-cultural project management, training and development, and fundraising. Her professional experience has been largely spent in academia building and sustaining effective multi-sector partnerships with lasting impact on the development of corporate policy, curriculum, research, and public policy.

Kathy collaborates with faculty and other campus stakeholders to grow and sustain substantial, mutually beneficial corporate partnerships that support Yale’s mission to improve the world through exceptional research and scholarship. Her team’s activities center around three strategies: business development, strategy and policy alignment, and communication and collaboration.

Previously, as director of global partnerships for the Shared Value Initiative, a multi-stakeholder effort that aims to drive adoption and improve implementation of shared value strategies among leading companies, civil society, and government organizations, Kathy launched the Shared Value in Perspective series to explore the ‘living adaption’ of the shared value strategy around the world. Lead partners included Nestle, Novartis, Enel, and G.E.

Kathy is married with three adult children. She and her husband enjoy traveling, spending time cooking with family, and Bikram Yoga. Kathy earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Massachusetts and her master’s degree in business administration from Bentley University.

Phil Taylor

Phil Taylor, Industry Director

Bayer

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Phil serves as the director of community ecosystem development for Crop Science at Bayer, based in St. Louis, Missouri. In this role, he leverages nearly 20 years of AgTech industry experience to develop, direct, and manage Crop Science’s holistic presence in key operating communities, as well as in critical business collaboration communities worldwide.

He is also responsible for shaping academic partnership strategy to support data generation for Crop Science’s R&D pipeline, product and cropping system decisions, and the faster adoption of innovations.

Phil joined Bayer in 2006 and has held multiple leadership roles focused on delivering collaborative approaches that enhance R&D and position the company as a thought leader in open innovation and a partner of choice in agriculture. In his most recent role as director of open innovation and outreach, Phil and his team developed programs and relationships that support academics, startups, and the growth of external innovation ecosystems aligned with Bayer’s R&D pipeline.

In recognition of his contributions, Phil was named a Bayer Science Fellow in 2016.

Before joining Bayer, he trained as a plant cell biologist, earning his PhD from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, U.K. He completed postdoctoral positions at the University of Leeds and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a British Council Fellowship at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

A native of the U.K., Phil lives in St. Charles, Missouri, with his wife, Amanda, and their four children.