What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life, and why?
Maybe not greatly influenced, but I have really enjoyed: In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway, a series of short stories where you get lost in another world in just a few pages. Recently, Where the Crawdads Sing by Dehlia Owens. The innovation and ingenuity of the main character is amazing and good to the very last sentence. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Brown invokes fond memories with my kids.
 
In recent years, what have you become better at saying ‘no’ to?
“Trying” to say no to “other duties as assigned.” I say “trying,” but haven’t had a great success rate yet.
 
What’s one song you have completely memorized? Why that one?
I was in a 50s band during the 1970s so I have a juke box full of favorites – Why Must I be a Teenager in Love, At the Hop, and Rockin’ Robin stand out.
 
Share a favorite recipe to make (food or drink!) and tell us why you love it.
Totally unqualified here, as based on past performance I’m not really allowed to cook in my house. I am allowed to make pancakes, and really go out by adding blueberries.
 
What show are you currently binge-watching? Convince us why we should watch, too!
Just finished Men in Kilts. As an Outlander fan (I binged that three times), it is great to see the two characters in real life laughing around Scotland. Of course, they filmed it on the only sunny days that year.
 
What skill do you think everyone should learn, and why?
Very simple: prioritize your long list of tasks into A, B, and C. Throw out the Cs as you know you will never get to them. Focus on the As. I’ve also had to just write down the three things that must get done today, and really focus on completing them, despite all the other distractions. Answering these questions for the Big Reveal was on today’s big three.

What do you feel is the greatest contribution of tech transfer, and why?
All the great products contributing to society may not have seen the light of day if not for the efforts of tech transfer offices. I don’t think the public understands that many of these great ideas might still be sitting in the lab if it weren’t for tech transfer. The Better World Project is the tip of the iceberg of contributions. It’s been rewarding to work on amazing diversity of innovations — from Pepcid Complete when at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to the “maple spout adapter” at University of Vermont that triples the production of the tree, and the one we’re currently working on, lithium-ion batteries at Worcester Polytechnic Institute that can be recycled into new batteries.

What’s one thing you’re currently trying to learn about Tech Transfer, and why?
I’m in a small office where we do the tech transfer, run an I-Corps site, and run a Commercialization Fund. We’re constantly learning creative ways to bridge the funding gap through funding mechanisms and using alumni to help provide the business expertise for our startups.
 
*My first annual meeting was at a hotel near the Dallas airport in a snowstorm. How far we have come!