Technology Commercialization Staff List

Our staff are currently working remotely, but our office is still fully functional, and we are here to assist you. Email is the best way to contact us.

See the Technology Commercialization Organization Chart

Executive Leadership

Rick Huebsch

Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation, Technology Commercialization

rhuebsch@umn.edu
(612) 626-3760

Rebecca Gerber

Associate Director, Technology Strategy Group

gerbe074@umn.edu
(612) 626-5469

Kevin Anderson

Associate Director, Technology Licensing Group

andersks@umn.edu
(612) 624-8293

Leza Besemann

Associate Director, Marketing & Corporate Engagement

besem007@umn.edu
(612) 625-8615

Maria Ploessl portrait

Maria Ploessl

Chief of Staff

ploes013@umn.edu
(612) 624-6230

Russ Straate

Associate Director, Venture Center

rstraate@umn.edu
(612) 625-5878

Nathan Wassenberg

Operations & Finance Manager

wass0033@umn.edu
(612) 301-1323

Technology Strategy Group

Rebecca Gerber

Associate Director

gerbe074@umn.edu
(612) 626-5469

Sandipan Banerjee

Technology Portfolio Manager

baner198@umn.edu
(612) 625-0989

Allison Ferro

Technology Portfolio Manager

ferro046@umn.edu
(612) 626-9150

Anne Hall

Technology Portfolio Manager

hallx412@umn.edu
(612) 626-2033

picture of Jill Nichols

Jill Crawford-Nichols

UMD/NRRI Technology Development Manager

nicholsj@d.umn.edu
(216) 788-2681

 

 

Karen Ohlfest

Technology Portfolio Manager & Intellectual Property Officer
kohlfest@umn.edu
(612) 625-4907

Eric Olson

Technology Portfolio Manager & Intellectual Property Officer
esolson@umn.edu
(612) 624-6529

Vaughn Schmid

Technology Portfolio Manager

schm2230@umn.edu
(612) 625-9409

Rayla Vilar

Technology Portfolio Manager

pinto115@umn.edu
(612) 625-1273

Technology Licensing Group

Kevin Anderson

Associate Director

andersks@umn.edu
(612) 624-8293

Adam Bolton

Technology Licensing Officer

bolto121@umn.edu

 

Doug Franz

Technology Licensing Officer

franz417@umn.edu
(612) 624-0869

Cecilia Hall Portrait

Cecilia Hall

Technology Licensing Officer

hallx562@umn.edu
 

Kenneth Karanja

Technology Licensing Officer

kara0108@umn.edu
(612) 624-4531

Andrew Morrow

Technology Licensing Officer

amorrow@umn.edu
(612) 626-7283

Rajesh Udupa

Technology Licensing Officer

rudupa@umn.edu
(612) 624-3966

Naomi Walsh

Technology Licensing Officer

nmwalsh@umn.edu
(612) 301-3055 

Marketing & Corporate Engagement

Leza Besemann

Associate Director

besem007@umn.edu
(612) 625-8615

Steven Prinslow portrait

Steven Prinslow

Technology Commercialization Fellow

prins042@umn.edu
 

Jason Stockman

Corporate Research Partnerships Officer

stock776@umn.edu

Michael Woods

Technology Commercialization Fellow

woods475@umn.edu

Venture Center

Russ Straate

Associate Director

rstraate@umn.edu
(612) 625-5878

Chris Ghere

Senior Venture Development Manager

gher0006@umn.edu
(612) 624-6797

Mary MacCarthy

Venture Program Manager

marymacc@umn.edu
(612) 625-6022

Office Management & Systems

Maria Ploessl portrait

Maria Ploessl

Chief of Staff

ploes013@umn.edu
 

Portrait of Katie Breslin

Katie Breslin

Office Manager & Events Associate

bresl061@umn.edu
 

Portrait of Minyen Hsieh

Minyen Hsieh

Business Systems Associate

hsieh149@umn.edu
 

Phil Snyder

Business Systems Analyst

pjsnyder@umn.edu
(612) 624-2440

Operations & Finance Group

Nathan Wassenberg

Operations & Finance Manager

wass0033@umn.edu
(612) 301-1323

Luba Anderson

Royalty Accountant

ande8727@umn.edu
(612) 626-8096

Susan Auspos

Patent Coordinator

auspo002@umn.edu
(612) 625-2001

Laurel Corgard

Patent Administrative Specialist

laurel@umn.edu
(612) 626-2084

Resa Gilats

Senior Patent Administrator - Project Leader

gilat004@umn.edu
(612) 624-5871

April Kane

Patent Accountant 

kanex131@umn.edu

Becky Lowery

Contracts Manager

otcagree@umn.edu
(612) 624-6426

Paula Phongsavath

Contracts Manager

phong002@umn.edu

Megan Villella

Royalty Accountant

ville197@umn.edu

MNBridge Gap Funding Group

Chris Ghere

Senior Venture Development Manager

gher0006@umn.edu
(612) 624-6797

Tim Cusack Headshot

Tim Cusack 

MNBridge Gap Funding Network Manager 

cusac021@umn.edu

Students & Interns

Business Systems

Jeff Trinh

Patents

Giulia-Maria Bulugean
Griffin Buswell 
Meg Hellerud
Melanie Hernandez 
Siya Sakhardand

Venture Center

Cassia Collins
Chuddy Emukah
Ahtesham Iraqui
Ikram Khan
Bill McCue

Tech Comm Interns

Chakraborty, Rohan
Peng Ge
Yijia Li

 

Megin Nguyen
Jennifer Nhieu
Nanda Patil

 

Dechen Wangmo