The University of Pennsylvania has promoted its now-former managing director of the Penn Center for Innovation, John Swartley, to become its chief innovation officer, writes Tom Avril for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

This is a new position in which Swartley will be tasked with expanding the school’s already robust efforts to commercialize faculty members’ discoveries.

It’s a role not too dissimilar from his previous one, in which he shepherded promising faculty research through the process of licensing it to corporate partners or forming start-ups. 

As chief innovation officer, Swartley is tasked with expanding such efforts to the entire university, which includes academic departments beyond the medical, engineering, dental, and veterinary schools that now generate the bulk of commercial interest. 

Since its creation in 2014, the Penn Center for Innovation has helped turn the institution into a major player in commercializing technology from its researchers.

In fiscal year 2022, Penn earned more than $1 billion in licensing revenue, which ranked first in the nation in a recent survey by the Association of University Technology-Transfer Officials (AUTM).

In the most recent fiscal year, Penn-affiliated startups also drew $1 billion in new investment, according to officials at the Penn Center for Innovation. 

Read more about John Swartley and the Penn Center for Innovation at The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

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