Jim Deane (Ph.D., MBA, CLP) has been identifying, protecting and licensing innovative technologies, and helping build new companies to commercialize them, for nearly twenty years at AAU univiersities across the United States, currently as Associate Director for Innovation Partnership Services at the University of Oregon. Prior to returning to the West Coast in 2015, Jim served as Vice President for Technology Transfer at Tekcapital, a for-profit technology scouting and acquisition firm that helps operating companies commercialize innovations from universities and laboratories across the globe. Jim came to Tekcapital after serving as the Associate Director for Engineering at the Purdue Research Foundation, as a Senior Licensing Specialist at the University of Michigan, and a Technology Development Associate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

His recent volunteer efforts include serving as Treasurer and then Chair of the Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) Board of Governors, extensive work with AUTM and on funding review panels for Science Foundation Ireland and the Department of Defense. Jim got his MBA from Cornell, his Ph.D. and M.S. in astrophysics from the University of Hawaii and his bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College.