Having served as Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation since 2014, John Swartley, MBA, PhD, was recently promoted to Chief Innovation Officer at the University of Pennsylvania, a newly established role aimed at further expanding opportunities for the advancement of ideas, expertise and discoveries made at Penn.
In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Swartley explains how in his new role he is hoping to develop a more complete understanding of the broader “definition of what innovation is at Penn, from areas that have either been [traditionally] underserved or underappreciated” and then apply knowledge gained to the creation of new resources and initiatives in further support of Penn’s global impact mission.
He lauds Penn’s impressive patent licensing rate of close to 50%, attributing the success to PCI’s proactive faculty initiatives and effective business development strategies.
Moving forward, Swartley intends to continue to work closely with PCI, and other innovation focused resources at Penn, to foster a culture of creativity, collaboration and impact across disciplines.
Read the press coverage on these leadership changes here: