Richard Cahoon, vice president of Cornell Research Foundation (CRF), Cornell University's technology licensing and marketing arm, has been appointed interim director. He succeeds James Severson who joined the University of Washington in Seattle on Jan. 1.

Cahoon, who has been with the foundation since 1990, also has been named senior vice president of CRF, according to Robert Richardson, Cornell vice provost for research. CRF manages the intellectual property created by Cornell employees and is responsible for obtaining appropriate patent or copyright protection on Cornell-owned intellectual property.

"The period of Cahoon's appointment is indeterminate," says Charles Fay, vice provost for research administration at Cornell. "We are examining the overall research enterprise at Cornell with the aim of integrating economic development activities with those of CRF and bringing greater coordination to Cornell's many industrial partnerships. Once this study is complete and any organizational changes are made, we will undertake a national search for the directorship."

Cahoon also serves as the associate director of Cornell's Office of Patents and Technology Marketing. He has more than 20 years of experience in various aspects of technology commercialization, including research and development, invention, project management, product development, marketing, engineering and entrepreneurship. Before joining Cornell, Cahoon was president of a biotechnology company, a principal in the start-up of a bioprocess engineering firm and an associate director for industrial relations at a National Science Foundation-funded engineering research center. He earned his B.S. from the University of Utah in 1976 and an M.S. in bioprocess engineering from Montana State University in 1983. He expects to receive his Ph.D. in natural resource policy and law from Cornell in 2003.

In fiscal 2002, a record year for CRF, the organization received more than 210 invention disclosures from research programs at Cornell, filed more than 85 patent applications, completed 81 license and option agreements for more than 100 inventions and helped seven start-up companies.

CRF has more than 400 active U.S. patents and about the same number of pending patent applications. An active licensing program is being pursued to market CRF's portfolio, resulting in about 100 licenses being granted annually. CRF's current 11-person staff operates with a budget of approximately $3.5 million.