The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that
will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and
preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
Director, Technology Licensing Office (TLO)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
THE SEARCH
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a world-class, independent, privately endowed
educational and research institution, seeks an accomplished and visionary leader to serve as the next
Director of the Technology Licensing Office (TLO). The Director will support MIT’s mission to
advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will
best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. Teaching and research—with relevance to the
practical world as a guiding principle—continue to be the primary purpose at MIT, and are supported
and advanced by approximately 1,030 faculty members in five schools. MIT’s annual on-campus
research expenditures typically exceed $650 million, and it has deep partnerships with industry and with
international, multi-disciplinary research consortia. For more than 150 years, the Institute has married
teaching with research—and produced an unending stream of advancements, many of them worldchanging.
The Technology Licensing Office serves as the primary office at MIT to assist the community in the
protection, commercialization, and dissemination of intellectual property (IP). The TLO’s activities
enable commercial investment in and licensing of inventions and discoveries flowing from MIT
research. These activities foster the economic development and new products that allow MIT technology
to benefit the common good by balancing IP protection and licensing opportunities with MIT’s wider
mission of research, education, and dissemination of knowledge. The TLO also works extensively with
MIT’s Office of Sponsored Programs in the negotiation of the intellectual property rights granted to
non-federal research sponsors and in checking for conflicts with background IP. The Director will be
responsible for the management of the quality and financial aspects of invention disclosures and
licensing agreements and works collaboratively with the Office of the General Counsel on IP issues,
including patent litigation. The Director will provide guidance and support for a broad array of Institute
activities, including fostering innovation and entrepreneurship by students, faculty, and research staff as
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well as educating those undertaking industrially sponsored research on their obligations to these
sponsors.
MIT seeks a Director with the experience and vision to provide strategic leadership in the area of
technology transfer in support of the Institute’s mission. The Director will also act as an ambassador for
university technology transfer within MIT, as well as externally. The Director manages approximately
40 staff and reports to the Associate Provost. To succeed in this challenging role, the Director of the
TLO must possess a demonstrated record of visionary leadership, insights and understanding of
technology transfer in a complex organizational context, knowledge of evolving issues related to patent
and other intellectual property, as well as the ability to provide leadership to the university community
by engaging in public speaking at campus, national, and international venues.
MIT has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in the recruitment of the
Director of the Technology Licensing Office. All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be
directed in confidence as noted at the end of this document.
THE INSTITUTE
The enrollment of MIT’s first students in 1865 marked the culmination of an extended effort to establish
a new kind of educational institution relevant to an increasingly industrialized nation. The MIT motto
“Mens et Manus,” Latin for “Mind and Hand,” expresses the Institute’s ideal of a productive continuum
between reflection and action. In the land-grant tradition, MIT promoted teaching coupled with research,
focusing attention on real-world problems, and forging the notion of the teaching laboratory.
MIT is independent and co-educational, with a private endowment of over $12.4 billion, a total annual
budget of approximately $2.9 billion, and a workforce of approximately 11,800. Undergraduate
enrollment at MIT is approximately 4,500 and graduate enrollment is just over 6,800 students. A
distinguished faculty of just over 1,000 instructs both graduate and undergraduate students and engages
in research. Nine current members of the MIT faculty have won the Nobel Prize, two have won the
Pulitzer Prize, and close to 350 are members of the three National Academies.
MIT focuses on scientific and technological research and comprises of five schools with more than 30
academic departments as well as interdepartmental programs, laboratories, and centers. The schools
include Architecture and Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Science; and the
Sloan School of Management. In addition to world-renowned programs in science and engineering, the
Institute also is home to top ranked programs in economics, management, linguistics, philosophy,
political science, architecture, and city planning.
Since its founding, MIT has fostered a problem-solving approach that encourages researchers to work
together across departments, fields, and institutional boundaries. Close to two-thirds of the Institute’s
$650 million in on-campus annual research funding comes from federal agencies, with a steadily
increasing percentage from industry and foundations both domestic and international. Research
sponsored directly by industry amounted to $119.24 million in fiscal year 2015, or 17 percent of all MIT
research funding. Working with industry provides faculty and students exposure to real-world
challenges and opportunities, offers access to materials, equipment, and funding not otherwise available,
and serves the economic welfare of the nation by aiding transfer of new technologies to corporations for
commercialization.
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Currently, approximately 800 companies are working with faculty and students both in Institute-wide
programs such as the Industrial Liaison Program and the MIT Energy Initiative, and in smaller
collaborations. Among these corporate sponsors are such global leaders as Accenture, Boeing, BMW,
BP, Chevron, eni, ExxonMobil, Novartis, Pfizer, Quanta Computer, Raytheon, Samsung, Sanofi, Saudi
Arabian Oil Co., Schlumberger, Shell, Siemens, Tata Motors, and TOTAL. According to the National
Science Foundation, MIT ranks first in industry-financed research and development expenditures among
all universities and colleges without a medical school.
MIT alumni and alumnae bring a rare combination of technical mastery and creativity to the solution of
complex problems in the commercial, academic, and civic sectors. A study released in February 2009 by
the Kauffman Foundation estimated that MIT graduates had founded 25,800 active companies. These
firms employed about 3.3 million people, and generated annual world sales of $2 trillion, or the
equivalent of the eleventh-largest economy in the world.
THE TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OFFICE
The mission of the TLO is to bring about, through technology licensing, commercial investment in the
development of inventions and discoveries flowing from research at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and the Lincoln Laboratory, an FFDRC (federally funded research and development center)
that MIT has operated for the Department of Defense for over 60 years. In doing so, the office generates
unrestricted funds to support inventors as well as research and education at MIT. The office oversees
MIT’s vibrant patenting and licensing activity and serves as the primary office at MIT to assist the
academic community in the protection, commercialization, and dissemination of intellectual property
(IP). Its activities benefit the public by moving the results of MIT research into societal use via
technology licensing, through a process that is consistent with the Institute’s academic principles,
demonstrates a concern for the welfare of students and faculty, and conforms to the highest ethical
standards.
The history of MIT’s success in technology transfer is substantial, illustrated in stories like Akamai
Technologies, the content delivery service founded by members of MIT’s Laboratory for Computer
Science in the late 1990’s with revenues today over $2 billion. MIT has also been the catalyst in the
development of Kendall Square, which has been transformed over the last twenty years into a dynamic
center of high tech startups and life sciences research. The TLO plays a critical role in continuing to
fuel the startup climate in Kendall Square and in enabling new ways of business development and
collaboration. Its IP is revolutionizing fields from biotechnology to consumer electronics to the way we
share information. Additionally, the impact of MIT researchers and scholars, and their inventions, on
established companies like Genzyme, Raytheon, Analog Devices, ThermoScientific, ABB, and many
others—international giants with deep roots and significant presence in the greater Boston area—is
considerable..
TLO serves as a critical liaison among Institute policymakers, individual faculty, and student scholars.
Faculty and students benefit from the expertise of the TLO dedicated staff and their knowledge of the
scientific fields and commercial industries important to the MIT community. Within the Institute
community, current and budding entrepreneurs operate within a rich entrepreneurial ecosystem,
including The MIT Innovation Initiative (MITii); the MIT Venture Mentoring Service (MIT VMS); the
Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation; the Entrepreneurship and Innovation track at the MIT
Sloan School of Management; The Enterprise Forum; and the MIT $100K competition, which for 25
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years has been bringing together students and researchers from across MIT and Greater Boston to launch
their talent, ideas, and technology into leading companies. Members of the TLO frequently contribute in
the classroom through lectures on intellectual property, licensing, and venture activity. The TLO has
been an integral and animating force in MIT’s vibrant ecosystem of entrepreneurship since the passage
of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, and has set national and international standards for university technology
transfer best practices through its impact and legacy.
The TLO works extensively with MIT’s Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) in the negotiation of
intellectual property rights granted to non-federal research sponsors and in investigating potential IP
conflicts. As the US funding landscape shifts and industry funding grows in volume and impact, the
TLO’s nine senior Technology Licensing Officers—all of whom bring executive-level experience in
major, representative industry sectors—spend an increasing portion of their time in collaboration with
OSP on IP matters.
The overall licensing strategy at MIT has long been to pursue a large volume of opportunities, rather
than to maximize the potential income from a few. This “impact, not income” approach helps foster an
entrepreneurial culture across the Institute for the benefit of society at large, the inventors themselves,
and MIT. It has resulted in broad participation in IP activity by faculty and students and extensive
interaction with a large number of companies and venture investors who see MIT as a source of new
technology and a major contributor to the region’s entrepreneurial culture. MIT has fueled the economic
development of the greater Boston area and beyond for decades, sparking the high tech sector growth in
the 1980’s and in the last twenty years catalyzing the dramatic expansion of the biotechnology and life
sciences industry.
THE ROLE OF THE DIRECTOR
The Director of the Technology Licensing Office is the champion for technology transfer and licensing
activity within the Institute and the broader community. S/he is a leading presence before a national and
international audience of fellow technology transfer professionals in the academy and the private sector,
and also the ambassador of TLO to state and federal officials at funding agencies and economic
development organizations. As the campus leader in technology transfer, the Director of the TLO serves
as the chief conduit between Institute administration, which establishes policy frameworks, and MIT
scholars who operate within those frameworks through the TLO’s guidance and execution.
The Director provides intellectual guidance to, and technical management and supervision of, the TLO’s
resources and its 40-person staff. S/he also plays a critical role with MIT’s faculty and student
innovators as they seek to connect their ideas with the larger world. Through all of his/her
responsibilities, the Director is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the community and its partners
understand and value the fundamental belief in economic and societal impact as the motive force for
technological innovation at MIT.
The Director is responsible for the financial and resource management of the TLO. Gross TLO cash
income in FY15 was $45.8 million and over $21 million from royalties was distributed to MIT related
entities in FY15. Recent TLO activity increased in FY15 with almost 800 new invention disclosures
(compared to 744 in FY14), 28 new startups (the most in over 10 years), and 124 license and option
agreements. FY15 was a record year for issued US patents with 314, which is an 80 percent increase in
five years.
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The Director also holds responsibility for the management of the quality and compliance of MIT
licensing agreements, and ensures the equity of financial terms of licenses. The Director collaborates
with MIT’s Office of General Counsel on a range of IP issues, including patent litigation, and provides
guidance and support for a broad array of Institute activities including fostering innovation and
entrepreneurship by students, faculty, and research staff and educating those undertaking industrially
sponsored research regarding their obligations to these sponsors.
The Director reports to the Associate Provost, Karen Gleason, and works collaboratively with the Deans
of MIT’s five schools and colleges, the Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, the General
Counsel, the Director of MIT’s Washington Office, and the Vice President for Research.
KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE DIRECTOR
Provide thought leadership and strategic direction for MIT’s IP activities
Under the exceptional leadership of Lita Nelsen, who will retire in 2016, the TLO has been highly
successful in contributing to a vibrant culture of entrepreneurship at MIT. In this moment of leadership
transition, MIT seeks a strategic-minded leader who has the domain knowledge and technology transfer
experience needed to assess the current situation and inform the Institute’s future IP strategies, policies,
and operations. The next Director will be looked to as the Institute’s primary thought leader in
technology transfer and must bring the requisite expertise and gravitas to inspire confidence within MIT
and among its external partners. This is an exceptional opportunity to guide and evolve one of the
world’s great technology transfer operations as it responds to the changing research and technology
landscape of the 21st century.
Act as the TLO ambassador and champion the impact of MIT intellectual property
The Director of the Technology Licensing Office is the internal champion of the Office and will
articulate the criticality of the TLO to MIT’s mission of disseminating knowledge. S/he will work with
both senior administration and faculty and students to chart a future path for the TLO and promote its
services and value to the MIT community. S/he must interface effectively across the Institute’s
disciplines, guide and educate faculty and students, and translate IP and licensing policy clearly and
supportively to faculty and student inventors. The Director will promote collaboration across units to
realize economic impact in the greater Boston area, nationally, and globally, by MIT scholars from all
disciplines.
Expand IP activity across disciplines and industry sectors
The life sciences and biotechnology industries are central players in MIT’s current portfolio of
technology transfer activities; the transformation of Kendall Square is testimony to the Institute’s
success in this arena. Pursuing strategic diversification of the portfolio, with a particular eye towards the
software sector, will be an important task for the new Director. The Director will leverage the
tremendous entrepreneurial ecosystem of MIT, partner with the many entrepreneurship programs across
the Institute, and explore new ways to foster innovation through such ideas as “incubator” and
“accelerator” programs as well as an advisory board.
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Assess current practices in light of rising volume of TLO activity
An entrepreneurial culture is flourishing at MIT and the Institute is committed to seeing it continue to
expand. In the last several years, the TLO has seen a major increase in the volume of activity, with an
uptick in invention disclosures, patents, and licensing activity. As entrepreneurship continues to thrive at
MIT against the backdrop of an ever-accelerating pace of technology innovation in the 21st century, the
volume of work in the TLO and the need to educate and support faculty and students will increase.
Ensuring that the TLO addresses these expanded demands through efficient operations, faculty and
student support, and policy evolution will be central to the Director’s role.
Create and execute strategies to engage external partners
The next Director of the TLO will play a pivotal role in building and strengthening relationships outside
the Institute community, developing external partnerships with capital markets, corporations, startups,
and the philanthropic and privately funded research community. The next Director must develop and
deploy strategies to ensure that MIT is an effective partner to external entities, lowering barriers to
collaboration and clearly defining mission-critical Institute policies. This will involve the education of
current and potential partners to better understand how best to engage with MIT, engaging with alumni
and friends of the Institute to support TLO’s activities through their expertise and networks in the
PE/VC community, and collaborating with Institute leadership in evolving IP policies.
Exercise leadership in the tech transfer community and maintain MIT’s place as a pioneer
The next Director of the Technology Licensing Office will assume a mantle of responsibility, visibility,
and excellence built at the world’s preeminent research institution. S/he will be a visible and defining
presence in technology transfer leadership circles, both promoting MIT’s novel approaches to
technology transfer and economic development, as well as bringing creative ideas back to the Institute
through this national and international interface. The Director will be a presence among, and a leader of,
his/her peers nationally and internationally, an effective public speaker, and a recognized leader in the
field.
QUALIFICATIONS
To succeed in this challenging role, the Director of the TLO must possess a demonstrated record of
visionary leadership, a deep understanding of technology transfer in a complex organizational context,
knowledge of evolving issues related to patent and other intellectual property, and the ability to provide
leadership to the university community by engaging in public speaking at campus, national, and
international venues. The search committee understands that no single candidate may have all of the
ideal qualifications, but prefers candidates with the following traits:
•
•
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Demonstrated record of visionary leadership in technology licensing in a complex organizational
context;
Strong executive leadership background with substantial management experience, including
supervision of groups managing high volumes of licensing transactions;
Commitment to the mission of academic institutions of education, research, and public service;
A degree in a science or engineering field, along with a graduate degree (PhD, MBA or JD) are
strongly preferred;
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ten-plus years of senior-level management experience, with experience in large and small
technology companies being a plus;
Strong understanding of evolving issues related to patent, intellectual property and academic
research as well as the ability to engage campus, national, and international groups in meaningful
discussions of these issues;
Distinguished record of professional engagement and achievement commensurate with senior
leadership positions in major research universities;
Demonstrated accomplishment on fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace;
Demonstrated success in building partnerships and relationships with multiple stakeholders both
inside and outside an organization;
Superb oral and written communication skills;
Strong negotiation and diplomatic skills;
Ability to foster collegiality, cooperation, and consensus-building through team empowerment
and open, transparent leadership;
Proven commitment and success in recruitment, development, and retention of highly talented
staff.
NOMINATIONS, APPLICATIONS, AND INQUIRIES
Nominations, applications, and inquiries are being accepted for the position. Consideration of candidates
will continue until the position is filled. Candidates must submit curriculum vitae and a cover letter. All
candidate information will be held in strict confidence. Confidential inquiries concerning this search
should be directed to Isaacson, Miller via www.imsearch.com/5653.
Vivian Brocard, Vice President
Vijay Saraswat, Senior Associate
Micah Pierce, Associate
Isaacson Miller, Inc.
263 Summer Street, 7th Floor
Boston, MA 02210
MIT is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer: women and
minorities are encouraged to apply.