Technology Transfer Office now reports to General Counsel Peter Poulos
President Eric W. Kaler today announced that Provost and Executive Vice President Ben Vinson and School of Medicine Dean and Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs Stan Gerson will co-chair the committee leading the search for Case Western Reserve’s Senior Vice President for Research and Technology Management. In keeping with advancing research as among his top priorities, President Kaler has elevated this position to the level of senior vice president, who will report directly to him.
“Both Ben and Stan and have deep experience in research and possess valuable institutional knowledge,” said President Kaler. “I am grateful for their willingness to co-chair this committee and to lead it through this important search process.”
The committee’s other members are:
- Lisa Camp, chief of staff, Office of the Provost;
- Dana Crawford, professor of population qualitative health and associate professor, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, School of Medicine; associate director, population and diversity research, Cleveland Institute for Computational Biology in the School of Medicine;
- Carlos Crespo-Hernandez, professor of chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences;
- Burcu Gurkan, the Nord Associate Professor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering, Case School of Engineering;
- Ron Hickman, associate dean for research and the Ruth M. Anderson Professor, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing;
- Grace McComsey, professor of pediatrics and medicine, School of Medicine;
- Dale Nance, the Albert J. Weatherhead III and Richard W. Weatherhead Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, School of Law;
- Pushpa Pandiyan, associate professor of biological sciences, School of Dental Medicine;
- Daniel Shoag, associate professor of economics, Weatherhead School of Management; and
- Dexter Voisin, incoming dean of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
“Our search committee members bring an important mix of Case Western Reserve perspectives, disciplines and knowledge to this process,” President Kaler said. “They are committed to a search that is thorough, thoughtful and that results in the selection of a new senior vice president for research who will maintain and elevate our university’s reputation as a leading research institution.”
The committee will hold campus meetings to receive input from the community regarding the university’s opportunities and needs in research and technology management.
In addition, the search firm Education Executives, LLC is assisting the university in this process.
Finally, effective today, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO), previously under the Office of Research and Technology Management, will operate under the Office of the General Counsel. The office will report to Peter Poulos, Case Western Reserve’s general counsel, secretary of the corporation and chief risk management officer.
This structural change will enable the Technology Transfer Office to better meet the university’s increased expectations for the office, which include improving internal and external customer service and collaboration; developing more efficient processes to finalize license agreements; strengthening collaborative relationships with industry; and increasing the number of startups/acquisitions by established entities, which have the capacity to quickly bring breakthroughs to the public.
“I have tremendous confidence in Peter’s ability to work with Technology Transfer Office Executive Director Michael Haag and the entire TTO staff to re-imagine both internal and external aspects of TTO,” said President Kaler. “Together, they will enable our research and tech transfer enterprises to achieve their exceptional potential.”