Veteran tech transfer executive spins out of Virginia

Mark Crowell (pictured), a veteran executive who has been leading technology transfer offices for over two decades, has announced he will step down from his current position of executive director of the innovation programme at Virginia University.

Crowell plans on returning to the state of North Carolina, where he first became a director of the technology transfer office at Duke University in 1987. He will become a consultant based in Chapel Hill, where he was located from September 2000 to January 2009 as University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s associate vice-chancellor for economic development and technology transfer. The university is also where he earned his degree in 1979, a BA Master of Regional Planning, Economic Development and Health Policy Planning.

Crowell had held his current position at Virginia University since 2010, and spearheaded countless technology transfers and funding efforts for start-ups. He has helped launch more than 135 companies during his time at universities in the Research Triangle, a region in North Carolina anchored by North Carolina State University, Duke University, and  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Crowell has received several high-profile honours over the past few years. In 2013, he received the Bayh-Dole Award from the Association of University Technology Managers for lifetime achievements, and the Obama Administration acknowledged him as a leader in patent reform.

Crowell said: “I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished at Virginia University Innovation over the last four years. The opportunity to help transform and elevate the innovation enterprise at Virginia University has been an awesome and rewarding challenge. The stage is set for new goals and grander heights in the coming years for Virginia University Innovation, and it feels like the right time to move on to my next opportunity.”