Dave is Executive Director of the Michigan State University Foundation, a non-profit research foundation which promotes and funds many facets related to the commercialization of intellectual property. In this role, he oversees the Foundation’s endowment and serves as President of its subsidiaries Spartan Innovations, Red Cedar Ventures, and Michigan Rise Pre-Seed III Fund. The Foundation also invests in and holds select real estate assets and manages the University Health Park, a 110 acre campus in Lansing.
Dave joined MSU from the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, where he served as President and CEO. Previously, Dave led the software commercialization practice at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2001 to 2011. Dave was an entrepreneur and involved in business development for a number of high-growth software startup companies such as Wolfram Research, InstallShield Software Corporation (acquired by Macrovision), and Kuck & Associates (acquired by Intel). He holds the CLP designation from the Licensing Executives Society and received a BA and MBA from the Gies College of Business at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.