Brad Burke will continue to be in charge of entrepreneurship programme Rice Alliance, which has supported thousands of startups to date.

Brad Burke

Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University, has been appointed associate vice-president for industry and new ventures in the Office of Innovation.

Burke has led the Rice Alliance since 2001, and he will continue to serve as executive director of the entrepreneurship centre. Over the past two decades, the Rice Alliance has supported more than 3,355 startups that have raised more than $25.8bn in funding.

He will be responsible for growing spinouts and Rice-affiliated startups, as well as for leading the strategy and development of new and existing corporate partnerships, community collaborations and marketing strategy for the Office of Innovation. Also falling under his new purview is the Ion, the university-owned innovation hub.

Paul Cherukuri, chief innovation officer and vice-president for innovation at Rice University, says: “The Rice Alliance has played a key role over the past two decades in building Rice’s reputation as a leading institution for innovation and entrepreneurship.

“We are thrilled to have Brad Burke join the Office of Innovation to support our faculty and students in commercialising their inventions.”

Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).