A recently formed non profit corporation affiliated with Mississippi State will help the university manage intellectual property and facilitate the transfer of technology into the private sector.
The Mississippi State University Research and Technology Corp. will promote development of new businesses and industries formed to bring technology developed by MSU to the marketplace, said Robert A. Altenkirch, vice president for research. He and J. Charles Lee, vice president for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, will serve as presidents of the corporation in alternate years.
"It will facilitate the movement of university discoveries into the private sector and allow flexibility in managing intellectual property," Altenkirch noted.
The corporation is organized under the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act exclusively for scientific, literary, and educational purposes, he added.
Among goals of the corporation are encouraging activities related to development of new technologies and research; facilitating development of incubation companies by providing facilities, resources, and other support to launch or expand a business; and enhancing research and development through contractual agreements undertaken by the corporation.
The corporation is guided by a 13-member board of directors that includes Altenkirch and Lee, as well as the university's vice presidents for academic affairs, business affairs, and external affairs.
Additional board members appointed by President Malcolm Portera include Lester J. Berry, retired executive vice president of Microtek Medical Inc.; Will Carpenter, retired vice president of Monsanto Co.; William C. Clements, president of Clements Enterprises; Howard W. Duzan, manager of Southern Forestry Research, the Weyerhaeuser Co.; Lyle Hansberger of Hansberger Ltd.; Bruce Brumfield, partner, Brumfield Plantation and FTB Farms; Pat Salmon, general manager of Flexsteel Industries; and Vance Watson, director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
