St Edmund’s College Fellow Dr Richard Jennings, a UK pioneer in the field of academic knowledge transfer, has stepped down as Deputy Director of Cambridge Enterprise (CE), the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge.

Jennings, who joined CE in 2004, is credited with helping the company grow from a small player in an academic cottage industry to one of the most successful technology transfer operations in the world. In 2014 alone, CE supported the work of 1,320 University researchers, signed 130 licences, filed 239 patents, and helped its academic partners win £7.1 million in translational funding.

“Working with so many talented people at the interface between academic and industry has been a privilege and pleasure,” Jennings said. “Negotiating and closing mutually agreeable deals, and contributing to laying the foundations of so many exciting and important initiatives has been very satisfying. In the face of the increasing international significance of research impact, the role has become ever-more important and has a bright future. It has kept me endlessly absorbed.”

For more information, click here.