Gulbrandsen appointed managing director of WARF

Carl Gulbrandsen has been appointed the managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, a non-profit agency that commercializes intellectual property for the university.

See also: Patent growth strengthens UW future Fruits of inspiration: Recent WARF patents

Gulbrandsen, who has served as WARF’s patents and licensing director since 1997, will begin in January 2000. He replaces Richard Leazer, who will retire next year after leading the foundation since 1993. WARF’s board of directors approved Gulbrandsen’s appointment this fall.

“Dick Leazer developed a much stronger working relationship with the university and advocated new ideas that increased WARF’s effectiveness,” says Virginia Hinshaw, Graduate School dean. “I have a lot of confidence in Carl that this spirit of forward thinking will continue.”

Gulbransen says Leazer has been “a tremendous mentor” who “is a great manager who really focused WARF back on its core strengths of patenting and licensing UW innovation.”

WARF has seen a dramatic increase in the number of patents and licenses with industry over the past five years, and Gulbrandsen says his goal is to continue that trend. In turn, he expects to see the foundation’s annual contribution to the university increase substantially.

Royalties from research-based patents are returned by WARF to the campus each year and are often referred to as the university’s “margin of excellence.” The block grants, ranging from $17 million-$20 million each year, allow the university to reinvest in a new generation of research.

He will encourage WARF to become more of an international player in the patent market, in areas such as Europe and Asia. A third goal will be to continue a trend of taking equity in UW-based spinoff companies, which has helped with the development of high-tech businesses in the state. WARF now has equity in 13 companies, Gulbrandsen says.

Gulbrandsen, who received both a Ph.D. in physiology and a law degree from the university, had his own private law practice from 1981-1992 that specialized in intellectual property law.

In 1992, he joined the Madison companies Lunar Corp. and Bone Care International as general counsel. Both of those companies are based on UW–Madison technology.

Founded in 1925, WARF is the oldest organization of its kind serving a university. The foundation helps insure that the university benefits from its research discoveries, while also making them available to society. It has granted a total of $454.7 million to the university in its history.