Walcer

Louis Walcer '74 has been named the first director of the Kevin M. McGovern Family Center for Venture Development in the Life Sciences, Cornell's new life sciences business incubator housed in Weill Hall. He will start June 1.

Walcer, senior commercialization officer at Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the technology commercialization arm of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, has extensive experience developing new startups and commercialization ventures.

The 6,700-square-foot McGovern Center will be a focal point for business incubation, technology transfer and economic development, and the first lab facility at Cornell for life sciences startups. The new center will provide know-how for every phase of moving an idea from the lab to the marketplace.

"My hope for the center is that it will provide a service bridge over the 'valley of death' that exists between university research, early stage commercial development and late stage commercial development," said Walcer. "The center will function as a magnet for current Cornell inventors and an incentive for future inventors," he added.

Robert Buhrman, senior vice provost for research, said: "We are very much looking forward to Lou bringing his extensive experience and expertise in promoting and accelerating the development and commercialization of intellectual property in the life sciences, and enhancing the already strong connections that exist between the Ithaca and New York City campuses of Cornell University in the area of technology transfer and economic development."

Before Cleveland Clinic Innovations, Walcer served as president of the startup drug delivery company Medimop USA, and in marketing, new product and business development with Schering-Plough and Wyeth. In addition to his Cornell B.A., Walcer earned an MBA (1981) from New York University.

The McGovern Center was intended as a key component of Weill Hall, which opened in 2008. The center's labs and offices were designed for flexibility and can be adapted to different physical configurations to fit a specific company's needs. Each lab unit includes wet labs, support and equipment rooms, a primary investigator's office, and shared sterilization and walk-in cold rooms. The center is expected to house four to six tenants at any given time.

Occupants will be assisted with state-of-the-art equipment; office and library services; expandable lab space; and guidance from the center's director and staff. They also will receive advice on business plans and intellectual property concerns; on how to access capital sourcing networks; and other means to help the startup companies succeed.

"Lou has a particularly impressive track record in understanding the needs and interests of academics and those in the business community, which is the major criteria for fulfilling this position," said Jocelyn Rose, director of Cornell's Institute for Biotechnology and Life Science Technologies.

The center is named after Kevin M. McGovern '70, his wife, Lisa, and their two children, Jarrett '03 and Ashley '08, in recognition of their $7.5 million gift to jump-start the facility.

McGovern, named Cornell's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, is a trustee and member of Cornell's Life Sciences Advisory Board and the Cornell University Technology Transfer Advisory Committee. His firm, McGovern Capital, owns a number of companies that bring biotechnology- and nanotechnology-based products to consumers.