ORNL names 17 leaders to “Innovation Crossroads” Leadership Council
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has announced the formation of a 17-person Leadership Council to work with its “Innovation Crossroads” program.
The group is comprised of investors, business executives and entrepreneurs from across the country including a number of Tennessee representatives. The latter, in alphabetical order, include:
- John Bruck, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Haslam College on Business at the University of Tennessee’s (UT) Knoxville campus;
- Margaret Dolan, newly named President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Launch Tennessee;
- Kate Kornau, External Innovation Manager at Eastman Chemical Company;
- Stacey Patterson, UT Vice President for Research, Outreach and Economic Development;
- Vig Sherrill, serial entrepreneur whose current undertaking is General Graphene where he serves as President and CEO; and
- Grady Vanderhoofven, President and CEO of Three Roots Capital.
“We’re really grateful that this outstanding group of individuals has agreed to help ORNL’s ‘Innovation Crossroads’ program by participating on our Leadership Council,” said Tom Rogers, the lab’s Director of Industrial and Economic Development Partnerships. “I’m confident that our innovators will benefit a great deal by interacting with this group, and that our program will have even more impact in the future due to their guidance and assistance.”
The Council met last week to help select the six entrepreneurs to participate in the third cohort of the “Innovation Crossroads” program. Members will be providing connections to people and organizations that can help participants’ entrepreneurial ideas flourish during their two years in the program and beyond. The Council will also guide innovators on all aspects of starting and growing energy and advanced manufacturing companies
In addition to the Tennessee-based Council members, others who have agreed to serve are:
- Doug Buerkle, CEO of LTM Ventures and Founding Executive Director of NEXUS-NY;
- Aaron Chockla, Venture Capitalist with True North Ventures;
- Jonathan Goldman, Principal at Georgia Tech’s VentureLab;
- Alison Gotkin, Associate Director of Business Development at United Technologies Research Center;
- Chris Haase, Director of the Critical Materials institute at Ames Laboratory;
- Alfred Lam, Vice President at Chrysalix Venture Capital;
- Paul Leggett, Managing Director at Mithril Capital Management;
- Eric McFarland, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara;
- Mary Anne Sullivan, Partner in Hogan Lovells;
- Johanna Wolfson, Principal in the PRIME Impact Fund; and
- Jetta Wong, Senior Advisor for the Northern California Operations of the LA Cleantech Incubator.
