Technology commercialization, entrepreneurship expert to join UH

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
William K. Richardson, (808) 956-9024
Interim Director, OTTED
Eric R. Matsunaga, (808) 956-5588
Director, Research & Administrative Operations, Office of the VP for Research and Innovation
Posted: Feb 26, 2015

February 25, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai‘i is pleased to announce that local entrepreneurial executive and attorney Leigh-Ann K. Miyasato, will be joining the University of Hawai‘i’s Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development (OTTED) as a technology licensing associate, effective March 2, 2015.   

In her new role, Miyasato will be working with the UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences to help faculty and student researchers commercially exploit their UH-owned technologies.  She will also assist with OTTED’s legal contracts and incentive programs. 

“I’m excited to have Leigh-Ann Miyasato join the OTTED family to help with our technology transfer efforts,” said Bill Richardson, interim director of OTTED.  “Her passion, combined with her entrepreneurial and legal prowess will help us to create a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem at UH.”

Most recently, Miyasato was the founding executive director of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Hawai‘i, a non-profit organization that assists entrepreneurial companies with their philanthropic and community service efforts. She also served as executive director of HiBEAM, an accelerator for early stage Hawai‘i technology companies and as vice president of DragonBridge Capital LLC, a merchant bank and early stage venture capital fund focused on assisting Chinese technology companies.

“We are pleased that Ms. Miyasato will be joining our expanding commercialization team at UH,” said Vassilis L. Syrmos, vice president for research and innovation. “She comes to us very highly regarded by the local entrepreneurial community and we expect her to greatly contribute to our efforts in support of the Hawai‘i Innovation Initiative.”

Miyasato was the founding program director of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington, D.C. as well as the Washington, D.C. lobbyist for the Japanese American Citizens League. She served as an attorney concentrating on commercial and civil litigation at Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing; Fujiyama, Duffy & Fujiyama; and Erickson, Beasley, Hewitt & Wilson in Oakland, CA. Miyasato is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). She currently serves on the board of directors of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, the Hawai‘i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations and the Pacific Buddhist Academy.

About the Hawai‘i Innovation Initiative

The University of Hawai‘i is working in partnership with the private sector and government to build a thriving innovation, research, education and training enterprise in Hawai‘i that will develop a third major economic sector for the state and addresses the challenges and opportunities faced by Hawai‘i and the world. For more information, see http://hawaii.edu/innovation/.

About OTTED

The Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development is a service-oriented research support center organized for the purpose of helping UH faculty, staff and students identify, manage, protect and commercialize UH’s intellectual property assets to benefit society and spur economic growth for the local and national economies. For more information, see http://www.otted.hawaii.edu/.

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