James A. Severson is the Vice Provost for Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at the University of Washington. In this role, he has responsibility for UW TechTransfer, the unit of the University that seeks to commercialize discoveries made from research conducted at the UW. Units reporting to Jim include Invention Licensing which licenses inventions and patents, and Digital Ventures which licenses software, related inventions, databases, and information products and projects, including associated copyrights, trademarks, and patent rights.

Prior to joining the University of Washington in January of 2003, Jim was the President of the Cornell Research Foundation where he was responsible for technology transfer from Cornell’s Ithaca campus and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City. Jim also held technology transfer positions at the University of Minnesota, and held positions in new technology assessment and market development at Amersham Corporation.

Jim received a B.S. in zoology and a Ph.D. in physiology from Iowa State University, and did postdoctoral research at the University of Southern California. He also held a faculty appointment in the University of Southern California School of Medicine.

Jim is a Past President of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), a national organization of university technology transfer professionals. In 2005, AUTM awarded Jim its highest honor, the Bayh-Dole award, “in recognition of untiring efforts to foster and promote intellectual property activities on behalf of the university and nonprofit community”. Jim is a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), a Washington-based association of over 150 research universities and research institutes that focuses on the policies and issues of federally sponsored research programs at universities, and he currently chairs its Contracts and Intellectual Property Committee.