Carl Gulbrandsen, a key player in advancing research at UW-Madison who advocated for stronger ties between universities and private companies, died Monday at the age of 75.
A Viroqua native, Gulbrandsen worked for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, or WARF, for nearly two decades, serving as its managing director until 2016. During his tenure, two research institutes, the Morgridge Institute for Research and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, were formed. WARF serves as the independent licensing and patenting arm for UW-Madison.
Gulbrandsen was a founding member of the nonprofit Wisconsin Technology Council, and as a lawyer with a background in intellectual property law helped UW-Madison and other University of Wisconsin System schools patent and license their research technologies. He also advocated for the use of stem cells in medical research at a time when it was controversial, Wisconsin Technology Council President Tom Still said.
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