Robin Rasor has been appointed to managing director of licensing within U-M Tech Transfer, effective March 1. 

Rasor oversees staff handling all functions of the licensing process at the university ranging from management and marketing of invention reports to overseeing all licensing activities, including developing and negotiating appropriate licensing terms for license agreements and maintaining and monitoring existing agreements.

“This promotion reflects the expansion of Robin’s licensing responsibilities over the years and the breadth of the impact of her staff and activities,” said Ken Nisbet, associate vice president for research-tech transfer. “Robin’s leadership and impressive performance have been instrumental in our success towards achieving our tech transfer mission.”

Rasor has been director of licensing in the Office of Technology Transfer since 2001. Under her leadership, her team of licensing professionals have worked with faculty on an increasing flow of new inventions from U-M research, last year a record number of 421, producing more than 100 agreements annually with industry and new business startups. U-M Tech Transfer has earned a reputation as one of the leading tech transfer offices in the country.

Under her mentorship, licensing specialists from OTT have “graduated” and now hold tech transfer management positions at other universities including MSU, The University of Arizona, and the University of Miami in addition to positions in venture capital, further expanding the Michigan tech transfer brand. In addition to recruiting new licensing professionals to the office, Rasor has continued her mentorship activities nationally and internationally by serving as president of the Association of University Technology Managers, the professional association most often associated with academic licensing. Rasor currently is president elect of Certified Licensing Professionals Inc., the first certification program for licensing professionals in both industry and academia.

Rasor has a Master of Science in genetics from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Science in bacteriology and zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University. She has earned the Certified Licensing Professional credential.

In 2005, she was awarded the President’s Award for service to AUTM. In 2007, Rasor was part of the team headed by U-M’s Dr. Arul Chinnaiyan honored by The American Association for Cancer Research in its first annual AACR Team Science Award.