Wayne State University has announced the appointment of Dennis Atkinson as director of corporate engagement for the university's Front Door program. The Front Door is a one-stop portal to Wayne State's resources, including research expertise and consulting, core facilities, business development programs, technology licensing, student interns and guidance for new businesses.

Atkinson joins Wayne State from the University of Southern California, where he built and maintained relationships with corporations and other academic institutions to advance university research. Prior to joining USC, Atkinson spent 20 years working for General Electric Healthcare and Siemens Medical Systems. As senior scientist and manager, he developed collaborative research programs with major academic institutions and national consortia to address healthcare challenges such as Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular risk assessment and pediatric disorders.

At Wayne State, Atkinson will build a team of relationship managers charged with engaging the community at-large. The team will proactively seek partnership opportunities for the university and provide top-notch customer service, responding to all inquiries within 48 hours.

"The Front Door initiative is part of our commitment to ‘extroverting' the university," said Ned Staebler, vice president for Economic Development. "Wayne State has tremendous assets, and our goal is to make those resources accessible to the wider community to be a catalyst for growth here in Detroit and across Southeast Michigan."

Atkinson, a Detroit native, earned a master of science degree in biomedical engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering at Kettering University, formerly GMI Engineering and Management Institute.

The Front Door can be contacted at 888-WSU-DOOR or thefrontdoor@wayne.edu.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.