Harvard has named Sam Liss as the next leader of its Office of Technology Development (OTD). The office handles corporate partnerships, licensing agreements for intellectual property, and funding programs to accelerate University research with real-world applications.
Liss, who has been with OTD for 15 years, is currently its executive director of strategic partnerships and manages two funds for advancing discoveries to the startup stage: the Harvard GRID Accelerator Fund, which specializes in science and engineering projects, and the Climate and Sustainability Translational Fund. Liss will start his new role as chief technology development officer and associate provost on January 2.
He succeeds Isaac Kohlberg, who will remain an adviser through June 2026. During Kohlberg’s tenure, which began in 2005, licensing revenue more than doubled. By 2018, Harvard was ranked third on Reuters’s list of the world’s most innovative universities, as measured by inventions and bibliographic references from other researchers (Reuters no longer publishes this particular ranking). That year, OTD oversaw research funding of more than $100 million drawn in near equal measure from corporate partnerships and from the licensing of intellectual property. That substantial sum is nevertheless dwarfed by the level of federal research funding that has recently been threatened.
Even before the suspension of more than $2.2 billion in federal funding (reversed, for the time being, by a federal court), Harvard had hoped to dramatically expand its corporate partnerships. That aspiration has now become an imperative at a time when the University is facing multiple financial challenges, including the prospect of diminished future federal research funding.
Provost John Manning, in a statement, expressed confidence that Liss would “continue to nurture productive and innovative collaborations that further scientific discovery, deepen human knowledge, and make the world better as a result.” (OTD’s mission is maximize societal impact, rather than revenue.)
Senior vice provost for research John Shaw, to whom Liss will report as part of a reorganization of OTD, noted that “this is a key moment for industry engagement at the University.” He added, in the statement: “We are thrilled to have Sam take on this role. We know that his longtime dedication to advancing science and fostering entrepreneurship, his unique background in business development, and his strong network of relationships across the University and beyond will be incredible assets to the team at OTD and to the University’s efforts in innovation as a whole.”
Liss, who before coming to Harvard worked in corporate marketing, management consulting, and business development at venture capital-backed startups, said in a statement that “the work of OTD has never been more crucial in advancing research to address a wide range of urgent societal needs. Our success relies on the remarkable research being conducted across the University, combined with our deep engagement with dedicated alumni, companies, investors, and entrepreneurs who are vital to our achievements.”
