Albertson accepts Georgia Tech job

Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) has hired Mary Albertson as director for its Office of Technology Licensing, which she joins following a decade in which the university’s research programme doubled.

Albertson, who holds RTTP and CLP accreditation, was most recently senior director of commercialisation at University of Utah’s Pivot Center, having spent the majority of her career to date in Stanford University’s tech transfer office from 1992 to 2019.

She was president of Autm’s board of directors in 2017, having first served on the board as vice-president for western in 2001. In 2015, she was awarded with the Autm President’s Award for outstanding and lasting volunteer efforts.

An inflection point for Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech boasts some $1.3bn in annual research grants and contracts. Its research programme has doubled in the past decade, and its prominent spinouts include battery technology developer Sila Nanotechnologies, which raised a $590m series F last year.

Albertson’s appointment marks the beginning of planned significant growth for the Office of Technology Licensing, which is expected to increase capacity by 80% and recruit additional licensing associates.

Raghupathy “Siva” Sivakumar, chief commercialisation officer and vice-president of commercialisation at Georgia Tech, said: “Our Office of Technology Licensing is the gateway to transfer technologies developed within our labs out into the real world.

“Partnering with the other commercialisation entities on campus, I anticipate that office, with Mary’s leadership and vision, will redefine the way commercialisation is done on academic campuses.”