Mr. Fred Reinhart, assistant vice president for Technology Commercialization at Wayne State University, has been elected to the Association of University Technology Managers’ (AUTM) Board of Trustees as Vice President for Finance for the 2006 – 2007 term.
AUTM, an international association with over 3,400 members, represents more than 350 universities, research institutions, teaching hospitals and government agencies as well as hundreds of companies involved with managing and licensing innovations derived from academic and nonprofit research. It provides numerous resources for members including survey reports, professional development courses, a peer-reviewed journal and a worldwide community of peers with expertise in all areas of intellectual property management.
The association was founded in 1974 as the Society of University Patent Administrators with the objective of addressing a concern that inventions funded by the U.S. government were not being commercialized effectively. Through the years AUTM has grown beyond this single objective and now provides professional development and networking opportunities for technology transfer professionals at all career levels.
In this position, Mr. Reinhart of Plymouth, Michigan, will be responsible for fiscal management and the integration of AUTM’s organizational strategy with appropriate allocation of resources. He will also serve on AUTM’s executive committee of the board. According to John Oliver, WSU’s vice president for Research, “Election to the AUTM board is a significant vote of confidence in both our university and Mr. Reinhart. AUTM is the world’s preeminent technology transfer association and its leadership comes primarily from the most prestigious universities in the U.S., Canada and other countries. Academic technology transfer is a major source of social benefit deriving from the creation of novel technologies which lead to new products and processes and, ultimately, value creation and economic development.”
Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world.