Michael P. Straightiff, Executive Director of the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group (LVG), is responsible for the technology transfer and commercialization of all University of Virginia owned intellectual property. He was appointed in September 2011, after leading Case Western Reserve University’s Technology Transfer Office in biomedical engineering commercialization for four years. Shortly after arriving at the Licensing & Ventures Group, Michael adopted a new strategic direction for the organization emphasizing the commercialization of university technologies through a more judicious approach to licensing deals and fostering relationships with UVA inventors to help them launch new ventures. In 2015, Michael established the $10 million LVG Seed Fund, tasked with supporting the more than 50 active start-ups based on University innovation assets, and in 2019 he created a new Entrepreneur/Expert/Executive-in-Residence program, recruiting established industry leaders to Charlottesville in order to support emerging UVA discoveries and to create new ventures based on UVA technologies.
Prior to joining the Licensing & Ventures Group, Michael was Director of Biomedical Engineering Commercialization for the Technology Transfer Office at Case Western Reserve University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and an MBA. He also holds a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University.
Michael serves as an instructor of PhD Plus Commercialization skills series offered every Spring semester, as part of PhD+ Innovation and Commercialization core module.