Innovation and Entrepreneurship at WSU

External review aims to clarify and support innovation and entrepreneurship activity

Innovation and entrepreneurship are aligned with WSU’s land grant mission to conduct research and outreach that benefit Washington’s economy. In the summer of 2016, Vice President for Research Christopher Keane commissioned the External Review of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to assess the current environment around these activities, and to determine the opportunities and challenges involved in strengthening that environment.

The review was led by Glenn Prestwich, Chancellor’s Distinguished Visiting Professor at WSU and Presidential Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, and Special Presidential Assistant for Faculty Entrepreneurship at the University of Utah. Dr. Prestwich assembled a team who conducted a questionnaire and interviews of tenure and tenure-track faculty, as well as site visits to WSU units in Spokane and Pullman that do work related to innovation and entrepreneurship.

The review identified six broad topics, each with recommended actions to encourage research engagement among faculty, students, businesses, non-profits, community groups, and startups. The recommendations will enable WSU to define for itself what success in improved innovation and entrepreneurship means, and to determine how best to achieve that success.

Below you can view the report, and the team who will drive implementation based on the recommendations.

View the report and recommendations

The Innovation and Research Engagement Office was formed to implement the recommendations of the ERIE team. To learn more about their work and contact them, please visit their website at https://research.wsu.edu/innovation/.