Last modified: Friday, August 8, 2008
Tony Armstrong is the IU Research & Technology Corp.'s new president and CEO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 8, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Research & Technology Corp.'s board of directors has chosen IU Executive Director for Engagement Tony Armstrong as its new president and CEO.
Armstrong won't need much time to adjust to the role -- he has helmed the IURTC and its business incubator, the IU Emerging Technologies Center, on an interim basis since early April.
"This organization plays a critical role in our research enterprises, and it is essential that its leader be well versed in every aspect of technology transfer, from patents and licensing to business development and venture financing issues," said IU President Michael A. McRobbie. "Tony has all the specialized knowledge needed for the job, and he's proven himself as an effective organizer and administrator."
IU Vice President for Engagement Bill Stephan said Armstrong has been a good fit for the IURTC.
"With Tony, you have leadership that really is attuned to the needs of our faculty," said Stephan, who initially hired Armstrong in February to aid IU's economic development and outreach projects. "He is service oriented. He's a problem solver. He has the ability to affect the culture in this arena in a positive way."
Armstrong said one of his priorities for the IURTC is to examine whether IU's primary agent of economic development is fully serving all of IU's faculty and staff researchers.
"We are currently in the process of looking at how we might reorganize IURTC to better serve faculty," Armstrong said. "We want to figure out how we can simplify what we are doing, helping researchers through the process of taking their discoveries and creations and translating them into marketable products. We want to make the university's finest work available for the benefit of Hoosiers and others around the world."
Armstrong said he also expects engagement to play a bigger role in augmenting IURTC's numerous services.
"We want the IURTC to be a grand facilitator between the university community and the world beyond," Armstrong said. "On the outside, we have capital providers and companies interested in licensing our technologies. On the inside are our impressive and productive researchers. We need a strong bridge between them -- that's an engagement effort. We need to make sure the outside stakeholders have every opportunity to access the vast resources our university provides."
Stephan said that a good and productive relationship between IURTC and investors and licensees doesn't benefit just IURTC and faculty, but the university as a whole.
"Fundamentally, the work of the IURTC should enhance the academic and research missions of the entire university system," he said. "Our success in this area has helped create a revenue stream that flows back to the university in such a way that supports everything we do, from research to teaching to service -- and everything in between."
Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Armstrong deputy director of the Indiana State Budget Agency in 2005, a position he held until this year. Armstrong helped craft and manage the state's annual budget and communicate to the governor's office the fiscal impacts of state legislative proposals. In February 2008, Armstrong left that position to become IU's executive director of engagement under Bill Stephan. Two months later, he was appointed IURTC's interim president and CEO. Mark Long, IURTC's former president and CEO, stepped down on March 30 after a six-year tenure.
Armstrong's relationship with IURTC goes back 11 years. He was IURTC's associate director from 1997 to 2000 (when IURTC was known as the Advanced Research and Technology Institute). Between 2000 and 2005, Armstrong also served in various positions -- including executive director -- with the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, a state-sponsored initiative that strengthens Indiana's life sciences and technology communities.
Armstrong holds a J.D. from the IU School of Law (Bloomington), an M.B.A. from Butler University, and a bachelor's degree from the IU Kelley School of Business (Bloomington).
To speak with Armstrong, please call 317-278-1901 or e-mail atarmstr@indiana.edu. To speak with Bill Stephan or Michael McRobbie, please contact David Bricker, University Communications, at 812-856-9035 or brickerd@indiana.edu.
