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The University of Toronto welcomed a veteran of government and post-secondary education as the new head of the university’s research commercialization operation.
Dr. Tim McTiernan, previously the Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Operating Officer for the Ministry of Research and Innovation for the Province of Ontario, took up his post as Assistant Vice-President, Research and Executive Director of Innovations at University of Toronto (IUT) on June 5, 2006.
“Dr. McTiernan’s appointment to the University of Toronto is a great coup for us. With his expertise in government – especially in the areas of research commercialization and science and technology – as well as his background in post-secondary education, he provides the University with a special skill set in the area of partnership building,” said Dr. John Challis, Vice-President, Research and Associate Provost. “Tim’s experience will complement and compliment the outstanding expertise in research commercialization that already exists in IUT.”
IUT is a new entity at the University of Toronto, combining the university’s internal technology transfer operation with its former commercialization arm, the Innovations Foundation, under one umbrella.
As a department of the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Associate Provost, IUT will do double duty, offering the services of the old technology transfer office – such as connecting researchers with business and administering contracts, invention disclosures and intellectual property agreements – while providing the former Innovations Foundation’s expertise in helping researchers license and patent their research, creating spin-off companies and linking those companies with seed capital.
A native of Ireland, McTiernan has held key positions related to research commercialization and science and technology in the Government of Ontario since 2002. From 1997-2002 he was president of Canadore College of Applied Arts and Technology in North Bay, Ontario and before that spent 15 years in a variety of positions with the Yukon Government. They include Deputy Minister of the Executive Council Office and Cabinet Secretary and Chief Yukon Government Negotiator for Devolution, Land and Claims and Self-Government.
He received a B.A. (Mod.) in philosophy and psychology from Trinity College, Dublin (1973); and an M.A. (1977) and PhD (1982) in psychology from the University of British Columbia. He has taught part-time for the University of British Columbia and has published on conservation, sustainable development and post-secondary policy issues.
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