Where: Auditorium, Building 20
Description
Mark Crowell, VP of Innovation & Economic Development, will introduce this keynote lecture.
Join Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Executive Director Tom Skalak as he looks at the ecosystems that produce the innovations that propel a modern creative economy.
Knowledge economies depend upon several attributes for their vitality. It is essential to maintain a full circle of value creation - from discovering new fundamental knowledge - especially in complex systems we don't yet understand such as bioscience and climate/environment - to translational use, commercialization, and benefit to society.
The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group is re-emphasizing how new basic knowledge is critically important to the world, by investing in pioneering bioscience research led by creative individuals and compass-guided centers. In many nations and regions, adequate capital exists for scaling up successful innovation with clear market definition or regional economic gains, while amplifying the early-stage discovery enterprises is a key opportunity.
In other places, well-established research enterprises exist, while capital markets have moved away from the degree of risk tolerance needed to create wholly new industries or gain disruptive market advantages in existing industries. The key to maintaining a viable innovation ecosystem in the long-term is maintaining the cultural attitudes, research institutions, industrial capabilities, government policies, and capital markets that allow human creativity to flourish and invent the new.
The only thing one can count on is change itself, so enterprises and economies that have the quality of continuous re-invention will thrive in the new global economy. Picasso said “Every child is an artist. The challenge is how to remain an artist once one grows up.” The same is true of regions, nations, scientists, engineers, business leaders, and economies.
An award ceremony for the Enrichment in the Spring photography competition will be held at the end of this keynote lecture.
A cocktail reception will take place prior to the keynote lecture from 4:45 pm.
Thomas Skalak
Tom Skalak
Executive Director, Science and Technology, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
Tom Skalak joined the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation in 2015 as Executive Director, Science and Technology Programs. The Foundation’s science and technology programs seek to explore new frontiers, re-invent fields in ways that reflect major societal challenges and fundamental scientific curiosity, and bring new knowledge to light with a broad array of partners, making a positive impact on the world.
A major interest of the Foundation is the wide and growing landscape of quantitative bioscience. Previously, Tom was Vice President for Research at the University of Virginia, where he led research and innovation programs spanning biosciences, environmental sustainability, physical sciences, engineering and technology, arts, design, and humanities. Tom led the launch of the OpenGrounds collaboration initiative, bringing people together across fields for ideation; the statewide i6 Virginia Innovation Partnership; and the Global Water Games, a participatory computer game that improves the health of watersheds worldwide.
As a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Tom’s personal research included biomechanics of the cardiovascular system, angiogenesis, computational modeling, systems biology, wound repair, and regenerative medicine. He is a past President of both the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). Tom is a frequent speaker on innovation and creativity with Fortune 500, venture capital, major art museum, and government partners, including The White House. He is a Council Member of the GUIRR Research Roundtable, a convening body of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the U.S.
Tom was the founder of the UVA-Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership and other proof-of-concept funds with corporate partners such as Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. One outcome was that the National Venture Capital Association ranked the Charlottesville region the #1 fastest-growing venture capital ecosystem in the United States between 2010-2015.
Tom was educated as a bioengineer at The Johns Hopkins University (B.E.S. 1979) and at the University of California, San Diego (Ph.D. 1984), is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and now enjoys exploring the deep waters of the Pacific Northwest with family and friends.
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