Summary
As Chief Innovation & Commercialization Officer, Grace Chou leads the overall advancement of the University’s technology commercialization activities and its Innevation Center, a hub of entrepreneurship, collaboration and job creation in downtown Reno and an anchor to the regional innovation ecosystem.
Chou brings broad corporate experience in R&D, intellectual property, startup ventures, business development and strategic planning. Her career includes senior-level positions with DuPont Industrial Biosciences, SRI International and venture-backed startups, all based in the San Francisco Bay Area. While at SRI International, she was a key member of the licensing & ventures team where she helped launch several technology startups. She has been an invited speaker at early-stage investment forums and technology venture events in Silicon Valley. She came to the University from the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development where she was director of manufacturing & technology.
Chou is a former board member for the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium (BASIC) and has taught at Sierra Nevada University in Incline Village. She moved to the Tahoe-Reno area in 2016 partly because of her love for the outdoors. She has seen tremendous growth in entrepreneurial activities in the Tahoe-Reno area and the emergence of Reno as a technology hub.
Chou holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She has also received executive education from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.
Education
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
Executive education, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
Professional certifications
Registered Patent Agent