Krentsel hired to coordinate technology, innovation, commercialization efforts

The Board of Trustees approved his hiring at its Feb. 7 meeting. Krentsel’s primary role will be to move research and technology to the marketplace.

“UofL holds the key to groundbreaking research in Louisville” said UofL President James Ramsey. “Dr. Krentsel will help pull our resources together with those in the community to commercialize that research, creating jobs in Louisville.”

Krentsel comes to UofL from the State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton, N.Y., where he was assistant vice president for entrepreneurship and innovation partnerships. Prior to his post at SUNY, Krentsel was founding director of the International Technology Commercialization Institute at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

A scientist, inventor and entrepreneur, Krentsel has advised a variety of organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, U.S. Department of State and the International Science and Technology Center.  He grew up in Moscow, Russia, and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a doctoral degree in chemistry before moving to the United States.

Krentsel will report to Executive Vice President of Research and Innovation William Pierce.

“UofL and the local and state business and economic development community have great talent and all of the components necessary for a successful innovation, technology transfer and commercialization effort,” Pierce said. “We are excited to bring Dr. Krentsel to Louisville to unify that effort.

Krentsel will foster strong collaborations among UofL-related entities such as Nucleus, Metacyte, the Office of Technology Transfer and a university-industry relations group, while also working with economic development officials in Louisville and Frankfort, Pierce said. He will work closely with UofL faculty, staff and student inventors and entrepreneurs and serve as an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship in the UofL College of Business.

Krentsel was selected following a national search by a committee comprised of UofL faculty, staff and community leaders and co-chaired by UofL professor Van Clouse and Louisville attorney and businessman Ed Glasscock. He is scheduled to begin work immediately with a full-time appointment beginning April 15.