Dear Colleagues,
I am delighted to announce Brian Thompson has agreed to serve as UWM’s Chief Innovation & Partnership Officer, starting July 1, 2023. Brian is currently Interim Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Director of the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center. Brian has also served as the President of the UWM Research Foundation, though he has been on a leave of absence since January 2023 while leading Strategic Partnerships.
As the Chief Innovation & Partnership Officer (CIPO), Brian will report directly to me and Provost & Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Andrew Daire and is a member of the Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet. Brian will lead the Office of Strategic Partnerships (OSP) and will plan and execute actions and initiatives related to advancing partnerships with corporations, non-profit organizations, and other groups, to enhance and uplift the academic enterprise, research accomplishments, and student experiences at UWM. He will continue in an ongoing leadership role in the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center (LEC) in which he will provide oversight to a new LEC director, who will be hired through a future recruitment. Brian will also oversee the following OSP initiatives: Connected Systems Institute (CSI), Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin (FCW), and Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute (NMDSI).
I am pleased to appoint Brian to this position following a national search that produced competitive candidates and resulted in feedback of strong support for the process and resulting outcome. I am grateful for the service of the search and screen committee chaired by Associate Dean and Associate Professor from the College of Nursing Jennifer Doering and vice-chaired by Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering & Applied Science Ilya Avdeev.
Brian brings significant experience to this position, including 17 years as president of the UWM Research Foundation, 11 years as a lecturer at both the Lubar College of Business and the College of Engineering & Applied Science, and eight years as director of the LEC. In recent years, Brian held instrumental roles in support of research programs and UWM fundraising through negotiating key agreements with external companies and collaboratives. His roles both outside and within UWM have granted him a broad perspective of corporate, non-profit and government organizations in southeastern Wisconsin, all of which will aid in his success in his new CIPO role.
Please join me in congratulating Brian on his new appointment.
Best regards,