Faculty Entrepreneur Movement

The Faculty Entrepreneurism Movement is Gaining Momentum

Although perhaps not widely appreciated, American universities have been interested in patenting their important discoveries and inventions since the early 1920's. This interest grew dramatically in 1980, when the Federal Bayh-Dole Act made it possible for universities to own inventions made under federal grants and contracts. Today, university patenting and licensing programs make up an established industry, which handled over 12,000 invention disclosures in fiscal 1999.

Ever since these academic interests in the commercial development of technology first began, university faculty have shown considerable interest and enthusiasm for the idea that they might directly commercialize their inventions with their own two hands. In the early days, this was a rather controversial notion; faculty were expected to keep their interests firmly in the academic world and to leave such commercial pursuits to others. However, the advent of the biotechnology revolution made the evolution of faculty entrepreneurism essential to the development of an entire new industry. No other source of intellect could possibly have the vision, experience, and talent needed to bring these revolutionary, cutting-edge technologies to fruition. More recently, the meteoric rise of computer software and internet companies has also been led by faculty entrepreneurs. Increasingly, such people are at the leading edge of new and bold technology-driven industrial sectors.

In fiscal year 1999, American universities reported that there were 1,934 operational start-ups in existence, all of which were created to commercialize university-made inventions. Today, faculty openly discuss interests in starting new ventures, and venture capitalists regularly scan the academic horizon looking for new investment opportunities. There can be no doubt today that there is a faculty entrepreneurism movement afoot, and it is not likely to end anytime soon.

At varying rates, and with varying degrees of enthusiasm and caution, most major universities today have accepted the idea of the faculty entrepreneur. Some universities have embraced the concept, and have created incubators, research parks, seed funds, venture funds, and other support mechanisms. Most of those same universities have also taken steps to ensure the integrity of the university is not compromised, by creating mechanisms for managing the inevitable conflicts of interest that arise.

Spinner Technologies, Inc. is the UVA Patent Foundation=s Vehicle for Supporting Faculty Entrepreneurs