O’Brien to lead Cambridge Enterprise

Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of University of Cambridge, today announced the appointment of Diarmuid O’Brien as its new chief executive, effective September 2021.
O’Brien is currently the chief innovation and enterprise officer at Trinity College Dublin, a position he has held since 2016. He first joined Trinity College in 2005 and his achievements have included leading the creation of innovation campus Trinity East and Grand Canal Innovation District.
He was also fundamental in the creation of the University Bridge Fund, a €60m vehicle managed by Atlantic Bridge on behalf of Trinity College and University College Dublin.
O’Brien will take over from Tony Raven, a GUV Lifetime Achievement awardee who announced his intention to step down late last year. Raven previously spoke about his work for Cambridge Enterprise with GUV for its Talking Tech Transfer podcast.
Prof Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of University of Cambridge, said: “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr O’Brien as Cambridge Enterprise’s new chief executive. He has an impressive track record of working in higher education and with business and government, and his expertise in innovation will be an enormous asset to the university.
“Under the direction of Dr Tony Raven, Cambridge Enterprise has thrived and grown into one of the most vibrant knowledge transfer centres in the sector – generating innovation, commercialisation and employment, and contributing to society through research. I am delighted that Dr O’Brien will drive forward this extraordinary success story.”
O’Brien said, “University of Cambridge is one of the world’s top research universities with a global reputation for the impact its discoveries have made. It will be a great privilege to support Cambridge academics in applying their research to some of the world’s most challenging problems and to work to enhance the broader Cambridge innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.”