Several Key Appointments Will Impact Tech Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in Region

The Ohio State University and the Ohio Department of Development announced several new appointments this week that are anticipated to have major impact on technology commercialization, entrepreneurship and job creation within the state and the region. 

OSU has named Brian A. Cummings as vice president for technology commercialization. Cummings, who helped build a top-tier technology commercialization program at the University of Utah, will spearhead Ohio State’s new strategy to bring the university’s most promising technologies to the marketplace.  Since 2005, he has served as executive director of the Technology Commercialization Office at the University of Utah and as associate vice president of Technology Ventures, an organization within the university charged with accelerating the rate of startup formation. Cummings led efforts resulting in the university rising from the bottom of national rankings to the number one position in terms of the number of startups founded on university research. Cummings and his team established more than 110 new technology companies and attracted more than $300 million in funding.
In other appointments, OSU has named David B. Williams, formerly president of The University of Alabama at Huntsville, as dean of Ohio State’s College of Engineering. 

“We are very fortunate to have attracted David Williams to Ohio State,” says President E. Gordon Gee. “He has a superb track record as a scholar and an academic leader, and he has created substantial partnerships to spur innovation and the commercialization of faculty discoveries.”

Among his long list of accomplishments at Alabama, Williams was instrumental in creating a pioneering research collaboration agreement with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.  As dean, Williams will provide leadership for OSU’s College of Engineering in academic programming and research; in student, faculty, and staff recruitment, retention, and development; and in financial resource management and development.

Gregory Washington, professor of mechanical engineering, who has been serving as interim dean of the college, has been named to the position of associate vice president for innovation and strategic partnerships. 

In a related story, Governor John Kasich has named James Leftwich, former president and CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition, as director of the Ohio Department of Development.  Leftwich is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy with a degree in public administration from the University of Dayton.  Under his leadership, the Dayton Development Coalition has helped attract more than $1.5 billion of capital investment to the Dayton area.  Leftwich has also worked at the Synergy Corporation and Rand Corporation.

Leftwich replaces Mark Kvamme who has been named by the Governor to the newly created position of director of job creation in the Office of the Governor.  Kvamme, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, was originally named as director of development by Kasich.  However, challengers contended the appointment was unconstitutional because of questions surrounding Kvamme’s residency status.   
“Mark has added incredible value in a short amount of time—all for $1 in salary—and is a resource that Ohioans are lucky to have,” says Kasich.  “As my director of job creation, he’ll advise me on job growth and economic development strategies and help formulate the state’s job growth agenda in coordination with the strong team at the Department of Development.”

For more information on these appointments, see the following releases: 

• Ohio State University Names Commercialization Chief: http://www.osu.edu/news/newsitem3045
• Ohio State Names New Dean of College of Engineering: http://www.osu.edu/news/newsitem3041
• Kasich Names Kvamme to be Director of Job Creation, Appoints Leftwich Director of Department of Development:  http://governor.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=pOznWfT1ELM%3d&tabid=40