Tech-transfer chief leaving CU for Arizona

BOULDER – David Allen, the University of Colorado-Boulder’s technology transfer guru, is moving to the University of Arizona to take on a similar role with more responsibilities.

Allen will serve as the first executive director of Tech Launch Arizona, a program to commercialize technology, which was formed at the university in recent months. He starts the new job Tuesday, Sept. 4. Allen has served 10 years as associate vice president for technology transfer at CU.

In his new job in Arizona, Allen said, he’ll oversee university research parks, incubators and a “seed fund” to help promising university-related projects move forward.

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In his CU job, Allen oversees an office that focuses on intellectual-property licensing. During his tenure, 93 companies have been started based on intellectual property created at CU. In the past 10 years under Allen, CU’s tech-transfer office has received 2,120 invention disclosures, filed 1,420 patents and executed 325 exclusive licenses and options, according to university statistics.

Allen said he’ll miss everyone with whom he has worked in the technology and business communities.

“I think Colorado, obviously, has a lot going for it,” Allen said.

Before his time in Colorado, Allen worked in technology development and commercialization at Ohio State and Ohio universities.

A CU spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment about how the empty slot will be filled. The university’s four-campus technology transfer office is often mentioned as a contributor to the region’s vibrant startup community in areas such as bioscience.