Jim Berbee first joined Warf's board in 2012 after completing a medical residency at University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital and Clinics.
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (Warf), the tech transfer arm of University of Wisconsin-Madison, has appointed Jim Berbee (pictured) to succeed Peter Tong as chairman of its board of trustees.
Berbee is currently a clinical assistant professor at the university’s School of Medicine and Public Health, and an emergency physician at William Middleton Memorial Veteran’s Hospital. He was elected to Warf’s board in 2012.
Berbee also acts as a trustee for biomedical research institute Morgridge Institute for Research and non-profit stem cell research hub WiCell, both affiliates of Warf.
Together with his wife, Karen Walsh, he also co-founded family office BerbeeWalsh Foundation, which supports human health and welfare projects.
Berbee decided to practise medicine after sustaining an injury during training. He had previously worked as a systems engineer for computing technology supplier IBM before founding his own IT services provider, Berbee Information Networks, in 1993.
Berbee sold his business to computing products vendor CDW in 2006 for approximately $175m to concentrate on medicine. He completed an MD at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in 2011, subsequently undertaking an emergency medicine residency at University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital and Clinics.
Berbee said: “Warf was founded almost a century ago in a singular act of generosity by Prof Harry Steenbock.
“Warf trustees serve to ensure that his legacy of research support to Wisconsin-Madison is protected and extended in perpetuity. Being part of Prof Steenbock’s legacy is a responsibility I embrace with deep admiration for those that came before me.”
– Photograph courtesy of Warf
