University of Arkansas’s Goforth moves to US’s National Science Foundation

Sarah Goforth, who stepped down as executive director of the University of Arkansas’s Office of Entrepreneurship in April, has joined the US federal government innovation agency National Science Foundation as a programme director of the Regional Innovation Engines initiative.

The role is a full-time rotator position, meaning Goforth will return to the university at the end of her term with the programme. The term will initially last for one year but is renewable for up to four years.

The Regional Innovation Engines programme was set up to drive economic growth in regions in the US that have not benefited from a tech boom of the past few decades. It aims to address societal challenges and advance technologies such as a biotech, AI and semiconductors.

Goforth will support current and prospective grantees, as well as the overall development and evaluation of the programme.

Goforth became the executive director of the Office of Entrepreneurship in 2019, having previously been director of outreach for just over two years. She also became an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship when she joined the university in 2017.

Earlier in her career, she ran her own science communications consultancy for more than 16 years from 2000, and was the chief communications officer of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History between 2015 and 2017. She worked for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for six years from 2009, first as manager of publications and digital products and then as senior manager for marketing.

She said: “The Engines programme represents a bold new way of doing science, embedded within regional economic development strategies and in close partnership with the communities served.

“I believe in this model and am thrilled to have an opportunity to contribute to the program while it is still new and experimental.”