MADISON – Erik Iverson, who will succeed Carl Gulbrandsen this summer as the managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, will speak June 8 during the 14th annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in Madison.
Visit www.WiTrepsConference.com to register and learn more. “Early bird” registration is open through May 13 and special hotel rates apply through mid-May.
Iverson, president of business and operations for the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle, will take over the helm at WARF July 1, following Gulbrandsen’s June 30 retirement.
WARF is one of the oldest and largest university-affiliated technology transfer offices in the country. It was formed in 1925 to commercialize a UW professor’s vitamin D discovery and manages a $2.6 billion endowment.
Iverson, a Moorhead, Minn., native, said he is still exploring what the best opportunities and models will be for the foundation.
“I need to engage locally with the WARF staff and Wisconsin’s and Madison’s tech communities and the university and the state as a whole to really understand what the opportunities are,” Iverson said. “Patents have been the mainstay of technology companies, but certainly not the only way technology can be translated and brought to people who need it.”
Iverson is well-known in Seattle’s life sciences business and research communities and has a long history of leading big initiatives involving commercialization of products.
Before joining the Infectious Disease Research Institute, a global health research and product development organization that develops vaccines and vaccine-related technologies, Iverson was associate general counsel at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and played a leading role in building its global health program. He was also involved in the foundation’s program that makes equity and debt investments in startup biotech companies.
Iverson also represented life science companies at the law firm of Perkins Cole LLP and was an adjunct professor of biotechnology law at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“We’re excited to hear from Erik Iverson at the beginning of his tenure at WARF, where he will bring a variety of experiences and contacts that should benefit Wisconsin over time,” said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
Produced by the Tech Council, the annual conference is one of the largest events for entrepreneurs and early stage investors in the Upper Midwest. More than 500 people are expected to attend the two-day conference, to be held June 7-8 at the Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, just off Madison’s South Beltline Highway.
Additional speakers and features will be announced in coming weeks, all under the theme of “Why Wisconsin?” Other highlights will include:
- The 2016 Ken Hendricks Memorial “Seize the Day” award recipient
- Other nationally known speakers
- Diligent Dozen: Top 12 finalists from the Governor’s Business Plan Contest square off
- Panel discussions and educational seminars for emerging companies on how to “Launch, Grow and Succeed”
- Innovation Showcase featuring more than 45 companies from around the state
- Plenty of chances to connect with seasoned entrepreneurs and investors over food and refreshments
Sponsors so far include: Aberdean Consulting; Advanced Materials Industrial Consortium; Alliant Energy; American Family Insurance; American Transmission Co.; Ascendancy Advisors; AT&T; Baird Capital; Baker Tilly; BDO; BloodCenter of Wisconsin; BMO Harris Bank; Capitol Bank; Carroll University; Center for Technology Commercialization; City of Fitchburg; Dedicated Computing; DeWitt Ross & Stevens; Findorff; First Business Bank; Godfrey & Kahn; Google; Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Madison College; Madison Gas & Electric; Makin’ HEY! Communications; Marquette University; Michael Best & Friedrich; Midwest Prototyping; Murphy Desmond; Neider & Boucher; Quarles & Brady; RDC National; Red Arrow Production; Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.; Rockwell Automation; University Research Park; UW-Madison Discovery to Product (D2P); UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations; UW-Madison Office of University Relations; UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation; Venture Investors; WERCBench Labs; Whitewater University Technology Park; Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek; WIPFLI; Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.; Wisconsin Technical College System; World Wide Technology; and WTN Media.
For more information, visit www.witrepsconference.com or call 608-442-7557.
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