Dr James A Severson

Bio

From 1990 to 1999 Dr. Severson held positions in technology transfer at the University of Minnesota, including Director of Health Technologies in the Office of Patents & Technology Marketing. From 1986 to 1990 he was with Amersham Corporation and held positions in new technology assessment and market development. Dr. Severson is a Principal with Pinnacle Reach LLC, a strategic consultancy for academic technology transfer offices. Most recently, Dr. Severson was the Vice President of Global Networks for Veratect Corporation. Previously Dr. Severson was Vice Provost for Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at the University of Washington, where he held responsibility for programs to commercialize discoveries made from research conducted at the University. Prior to joining the University of Washington Dr. Severson was the President of the Cornell Research Foundation, where he had responsibility for technology transfer from Cornell’s Ithaca campus and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City. Dr. Severson is a Past President of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), a national organization of university technology transfer professionals, and has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), a Washington-based association of over 140 research universities that focuses on the policies and issues of federally sponsored research programs at universities. In 2005 Dr. Severson received the Bayh-Dole Award in recognition of his untiring efforts to foster and promote intellectual property activities on behalf of the university and nonprofit community. Dr. Severson received a B.S. in zoology and a Ph.D. in physiology from Iowa State University, and did postdoctoral research at the University of Southern California. From 1980 to 1986 Dr. Severson held a faculty appointment in the University of Southern California School of Medicine.