Marmer moves on from Utah

Keith Marmer, chief innovation and economic engagement officer at University of Utah, has announced his intention to leave the institution this July.

Update: At the end of July, Marmer revealed he has co-founded and is managing director of UVB Capital, raising a fund to invest in life sciences companies.

Original story continues below.

He will be replaced in an interim capacity by Bruce Hunter, who joined the university in January as executive director, technology commercialisation. Hunter’s previous experiences include executive director of innovation transfer and entrepreneurship within University of California’s Office of the President, and executive director of intellectual property, technology transfer and new ventures at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Marmer will rejoin the investment world, and while details have not yet emerged he confirmed he will remain in the state of Utah.

The decision comes seven years after Marmer joined University of Utah, initially as associate vice-president for technology and venture commercialisation and corporate partnerships.

In 2019, he began work on restructuring the Center for Technology & Venture Commercialization into Partners for Innovation, Ventures, Outreach & Technology – the PIVOT Center – bringing the work to fruition in 2020.

That same year, he was promoted to chief innovation and economic engagement officer.

Marmer joined the Talking Tech Transfer in July 2022, where he discussed the PIVOT Center and his vision of commercialisation and entrepreneurship in detail. The episode, with a full transcript, is available for free.

This story was first updated on May 4, 2023 to reflect the appointment of Bruce Hunter as interim successor of Keith Marmer. It was updated once more on July 28, 2023 to include Marmer’s new position.