New executive director to lead Tulane’s Office of IP Management
Matt Koenig has been hired to help bring Tulane’s innovation and discoveries to the world as the university’s new executive director of Intellectual Property Management. In this position Koenig will direct, manage and coordinate Tulane’s licensing and intellectual property protection while also working closely with the Tulane Innovation Institute to support the university’s portfolio management to maximize innovation and commercialization efforts to bring Tulane breakthroughs to the market faster. Koenig, a proven leader on all matters regarding intellectual property, will also negotiate, monitor and enforce various licensing, confidentiality, material transfer and option agreements as well as industry-sponsored agreements pertaining to Tulane’s intellectual property.
“We are thrilled to add Matt to the team as we build on the spirit of innovation at Tulane. He brings a wealth of knowledge in developing technology processes to support faculty and student innovations,” said Kimberly Gramm, the David and Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at the institute.
Prior to joining the Tulane community, Koenig served as the director of intellectual property management for the University of Kansas. There, he was responsible for developing and implementing the protection strategy for the university’s intellectual property portfolio as well as instituting policies and processes to ensure the effective and efficient management of the intellectual property portfolio. During his time as director, Koenig created and chaired the university’s first faculty IP committee, launched an IP educational series for faculty and staff, and designed and implemented new standard operating procedures and templates for the technology transfer and research contract offices.
At KU, Koenig also served as a licensing associate from 2010-2011 and as assistant director of KU’s technology transfer function from 2011-2015. He also managed diverse innovation portfolios from the schools of engineering, medicine, pharmacy and education.
“Matt’s recruitment is very strategic for Tulane University, and it is timely as it coincides with an exponential growth of research and record funding in the 188-year history of our institution. We look forward to working with Matt and his team to protect this growing research output and convert it into innovative technologies that will benefit New Orleans, Louisiana, the U.S., and the whole world,” said Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, Tulane’s vice president for research.
“I am thrilled to join Tulane during this time of unprecedented investment in the innovation space,” Koenig said. “I am excited about the challenges ahead and committed to delivering a well-run, efficient and process-driven office that translates innovation and supports the research enterprise. There is a palpable energy in New Orleans and within Tulane around innovation with the creation of the Innovation Institute. There is much yet to accomplish, but the goal is clear: to build out the Office of IP Management and the Innovation Institute into a leading model for commercialization within the region and among our national peers.”
Prior to joining KU, Koenig served as a licensing intern at the University of Georgia’s Technology Commercialization Office, as a law clerk with the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., and as a law clerk with the Commonwealth’s Attorney Office in Northern Kentucky. He is registered to practice with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is also a certified licensing professional and member of the Georgia State Bar, the Association of University Technology Managers, the Licensing Executives Society and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
