UI Collab, in partnership with Gardner Innovation Search Partners and Higher Talent, works with leading organizations across academia, industry, and government offering executive search services and recruitment for roles that support research, innovation, and university–industry collaboration.
The University of Iowa, MIT, Stony Brook University, Penn State, Rice University, the University of Miami, UNC’s Innovate Carolina, UC-Irvine and UC-Berkeley, Tulane University, Medical University of South Carolina, Thomas Jefferson University, Nova Southeastern University, and the University of Cincinnati all have something in common. Each of these is among a growing number of schools to hire a Chief Innovation Officer (CINO).
The title is more familiar in the corporate world and has a somewhat different meaning in an industrial setting, where CINOs typically focus on adoption of new technologies, systems, and structures that help keep their companies on the cutting edge. For universities, while the CINO position may focus on a variety of campus-specific goals, in general these high-level execs are a key element in a strategic shift to a more centralized and better coordinated approach to innovation, entrepreneurship, corporate engagement, grant seeking, and economic development activity.
The CINO Comes to Campus
The CINO position is seen by university Presidents and their Vice Presidents of Research as a critical element of their plans to bring these often siloed but related areas within the university under the direction of a single leader. They view it as an investment in the future of their innovation ecosystems, ultimately increasing the impact of innovation activity on their campuses and their communities. By adopting a centralized approach under a single CINO, universities are coordinating and leveraging the multiple elements of innovation activity that should be – but often are not – working together: tech transfer, industry engagement, incubators and accelerators, student entrepreneurship, venture creation and start-up support, corporate-sponsored research, NSF and other innovation-minded grant opportunities, and innovation district formation and development.
CINOs provide a bridge between corporate engagement, technology transfer, economic development, and other innovation-related initiatives on campus – resulting in their combined ability to better leverage a university’s research strengths into innovation outputs and ultimately growth, revenues, and jobs.
At Stony Brook, for example, in June the university announced Michael Kinch, PhD – a veteran executive with a long resume of industry and academic leadership – as its inaugural CINO. In its announcement, the school said Kinch will “provide direction and oversight of campus-wide initiatives related to accelerating innovation and economic development, including incubation and technology transfer. His efforts will focus on technology-based entrepreneurship, venture capital, and other sources of startup investment, as well as the research commercialization and economic development programs from faculty and student research and initiatives. In addition, Kinch and his staff will collaborate with departments and colleges/schools across campus to amplify the university’s service to advance Stony Brook’s economic impact on the region and develop partnerships with external entities that benefit the university and help advance economic development interests of these external entities.”
UC- Irvine was a much earlier adopter, where Errol Arkilic, PhD, has held the CINO position – along with his role as executive director for UCI Beall Applied Innovation – since October 2021. UCI described the role as overseeing “campus entrepreneurial engagement with community and corporate partners, intellectual property stewardship, a robust licensing and marketing program, and outreach/external relations connected to entrepreneurship and industry collaboration.”
By adopting a centralized approach under a CINO, universities are coordinating and leveraging the multiple elements of innovation activity that should be – but often are not – working together.
Integrating Departments for Greater Impact
That connection between corporate engagement and technology transfer activity – and their combined ability to better leverage a university’s innovation strengths into innovation outputs and ultimately growth, revenues, and jobs – are hallmarks of the CINO’s typical remit.
Some schools, like the University of Iowa, have put a more specific emphasis on the position. U Iowa’s first CINO, Jon Darsee, describes his role as focused on three “pillars.” As stated in the release announcing his appointment, those three key pillars are “a concierge service to connect and coordinate resources, greater access to funding sources for entrepreneurs, and business expertise to support addressing unmet needs in fields across campus,” particularly targeting MedTech and EdTech.
Tulane’s recently elevated Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer, Kimberly Gramm, MBA, PhD, will primarily focus on strategies to build the university’s “innovation and entrepreneurial pipeline and increase regional capacity for new venture creation. This will improve lives throughout the world as well as create transformative economic growth and sustainability for New Orleans and the region,” according to a Tulane statement.
Others, such as Penn Center for Innovation’s inaugural CINO John Swartley, MBA, PhD, paint the position with a broader brush. As PCI described it in January when the position was created, Swartley will work to “further expand and implement a university-wide innovation agenda in close partnership with PCI and other critical stakeholders at Penn.” The release continues: “In his new role as Penn’s inaugural Chief Innovation Officer, Swartley will work with Penn’s leadership and Deans, researchers and innovation stakeholders across the entire University and its twelve schools, as well as key external partners, to help ensure that Penn continues to maintain its world-class status as a leader in the field of technology development, translation, and commercialization.”
The reporting structure typically associated with the university CINO position speaks to its importance within the universities that have adopted it. Most CINOs report to the Vice President of Research, but in some cases the new position is reporting directly to the university Chancellor or President.
Tracking the Trend, Leading the Search
As the leading retained executive search firm with an exclusive focus on university innovation, tech transfer, corporate engagement, and research leadership, we at Gardner have not only begun to gain clients who are seeking to find exemplary candidates for the CINO job, we’ve also been carefully studying and monitoring this emerging trend in university innovation strategy. Like those institutions that are adopting the CINO strategy, we’re committed to staying at the cutting edge of innovation leadership. In our view, this critical shift to CINO-led innovation strategy will continue to evolve and accelerate in the coming months and years. Our firm – with its decades of successful placements in the university innovation C-suite – intends to be the go-to resource for finding the perfect fit.
Our assessment is largely based on the important benefits associated with CINO-led innovation activity and the relatively rapid adoption of the position among university leadership. Those benefits include:
- Consolidating innovation activity under one leader, which allows for less duplication of effort, de-siloing related initiatives and departments, and better leveraging staff expertise and resources across functional areas.
- Importantly for VPRs, this takes direct responsibility for innovation-related departments off their plate, allowing for high-impact delegation and the ability for VPRs to focus more fully on other key areas, such as sponsored research, grant funding, faculty recruitment and retention, research buildings and equipment, and strategic planning. At the same time as VPRs increase their focus on other areas, innovation activity actually gets more focus as well, from someone with more innovation expertise, leading to better results, more revenue, more partnerships, positive reputational impact, and great PR.
- The CINO often brings a vast network of contacts and deep experience across both industry and academia, helping to generate more and deeper corporate relationships, translating into more partnerships and sponsorship dollars.
- The commitment to a CINO reflects a broader commitment to research innovation and tech transfer, bringing with it an enhanced ability to recruit and retain top inventive, entrepreneurial students and faculty researchers.
- The increased focus on innovation outcomes translates into increased return on innovation investments – more startups, more licensing revenue, more patents.
- By bringing the many different elements of university innovation under one roof and one leader, partners, researchers, and students alike can receive a concierge-like service that improves coordination and efficiency while encouraging broader engagement throughout campus, from tech transfer to sponsored research and philanthropy, and everywhere in between.
- Large-scale and long term initiatives, such as development of the broader innovation ecosystem, innovation districts, corporate innovation centers, and regional economic development efforts, can be shepherded much more effectively under a centralized, CINO-driven structure. Dispelling with a siloed array of programs and departments helps everyone row in the same direction, with aligned goals and incentives. Ultimately, these integrated efforts bring jobs, tax revenues, and economic growth, which in turn smooths the way to valuable relationships with key government officials and funding agencies.
- Developing a stronger and deeper innovation culture: A CINO can help nurture an innovation culture and mindset among faculty, staff, and administrators, which is a critical underpinning for greater innovation activity across the university. In addition, the CINO can act as a true expert and spokesperson promoting the university’s innovation activity.
UI-Collab works with leading organizations across academia, industry, and government to recruit high-level talent for roles that support research, innovation, and university–industry collaboration.
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