THUWAL, Saudi Arabia,
March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Mark Crowell has been named the
vice president of Innovation and Economic Development at King
Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). As of
July 1, 2015, his responsibilities
will include the development, management and commercialization of
our intellectual property portfolio, the creation and support of
new businesses, fostering joint ventures and collaborations with
industry partners and enabling a strong culture of entrepreneurship
at KAUST. In addition, he will oversee the development and
management of KAUST's Research and Technology Park and will help
drive the strategic positioning and operation of pre-seed, seed
and/or venture funding initiatives.
Crowell has over 25 years of experience as a leader in academic
innovation and business development. Throughout his career, he has
helped elevate and transform university-based innovation
enterprises. The innovation programs he has led have helped to
launch more than 135 startup companies and numerous products and
services. He has consulted for organizations such as the World
Bank, BIO, PhRMA, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Arkansas
Research Alliance, Eva Klein &
Associates, Wexford Science + Technology, the Research Triangle
Institute and others. Crowell's most recent international
consulting work includes innovation capacity building initiatives
in Eastern Europe on behalf of the
World Bank, innovation policy and best practices advisory projects
in South America on behalf of BIO
and keynote addresses at international conferences and symposia in
Singapore, China, Thailand, Japan and Brazil.
KAUST President Jean-Lou Chameau stated he is "confident that
Mark will provide strong leadership and mentoring to our innovation
and economic development team, as well as be an advocate for our
faculty and researchers in their commercialization efforts."
"I look forward to building upon the momentum created at KAUST
and contributing to the university's vision to be a catalyst for
innovation and economic development in Saudi Arabia and the world," Crowell said.
ABOUT MARK
CROWELL:
From 2010-2014, Mark Crowell was
the founding Executive Director of UVa Innovation at the
University of Virginia. Before working
at UVa, Mark served as Vice President for Business Development at
the Scripps Research Institute in
La Jolla, California, and
Jupiter, Florida, following a long
career in Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina, where he led the innovation, technology transfer
and industry research enterprises for Duke
University (1987-1992), North Carolina
State University (1992-2000), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(2000-2008). Mark was 2005 President of the Association of
University Technology Managers (AUTM), and in 2013 was awarded
AUTM's Bayh-Dole Award, the Association's highest award, in
recognition of his untiring efforts to foster and promote
intellectual property activities on behalf of the university and
nonprofit community.
ABOUT KAUST:
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is an
international, graduate-level research university located on the
shores of the Red Sea in Saudi
Arabia. KAUST is dedicated to advancing science and
technology through interdisciplinary research, education and
innovation. Goal-oriented and curiosity-driven research is
conducted by students, faculty, scientists and engineers to address
the world's pressing scientific and technological challenges
related to food, water, energy and the environment. KAUST seeks to
contribute to the transformation of Saudi
Arabia to a knowledge-based economy, promoting economic
development and achieving the widest public benefit.
http://www.kaust.edu.sa
SOURCE King Abdullah University of Science & Technology