Two to Lead Office of Entrepreneurship & Technology Transfer

Dartmouth has announced appointments to two new leadership positions to enhance Dartmouth’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and supporting technology transfer from academic research to the private sector for the benefit of the public.

The newly established Office of Entrepreneurship & Technology Transfer will oversee several existing offices, including the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network, Dartmouth Regional Technology Center, and Technology Transfer Office. It will serve as a resource for the Dartmouth community on entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and technology commercialization, and will coordinate with leaders and faculty at all Dartmouth schools and units to support their investigators, promote a culture of entrepreneurship, and help streamline activities and tap new opportunities. This new structure follows the recommendations of two faculty committees led by Martin Wybourne, interim provost and vice provost for research.

The Office of Entrepreneurship & Technology Transfer will be led by Tillman Gerngross, professor of engineering at Thayer School of Engineering and biotechnology entrepreneur, who has been appointed associate provost of Entrepreneurship & Technology Transfer. Trip Davis ’90, technology entrepreneur and administrator at the University of Virginia (U.Va.), will serve as the executive director...

...“We would like to have a real impact,” said Gerngross. “Our vision is to be supportive in the development and commercialization of meaningful discoveries. We want to facilitate a fluid network of ideas and expertise, and we are excited to chart new territory in the practice of technology transfer and entrepreneurship.”...

Gerngross will assume his new position while continuing to teach at Thayer, conduct research, and serve as a co-founder of new biotechnology-related ventures. Over the past decade, he has founded several highly successful venture-backed companies, including GlycoFi, which was acquired by Merck for $400 million in 2006. The same year, the journal Nature Biotechnology named Gerngross one of the most notable people in biotechnology of the past decade. Since selling GlycoFi, Gerngross co-founded Adimab, Arsanis, and, most recently, Avitide. He has been a vocal advocate for policy changes that empower the individual entrepreneur and facilitate the transfer of discoveries from the laboratory to the real world.