The University of Memphis is closer to joining the ranks of other major universities with the formation of a research foundation that will accelerate The University’s research agenda and potential.
In making the announcement, U of M president Shirley Raines said The University of Memphis Research Foundation (UMRF) is a significant achievement in U of M’s progress toward becoming a major urban research university.
“The UMRF will enhance The University’s existing research activities, create new opportunities and complement the FedEx Technology Institute at the U of M,” Raines said.
U of M Provost Ralph Faudree explained that the UMRF is unlike other foundations in that it is more of a business entity. For example, if someone at the U of M has an invention, the funds from this new research foundation will benefit the research activity that will accompany it.
The UMRF will help create sources of funding for future research and provide incentives for faculty that will assist the U of M in attracting and retaining outside researchers.
“The UMRF will be a more aggressive way of creating more intellectual property (for the U of M),” Faudree said. “It will be rewarding for current faculty members, as well as influential in recruiting new faculty.”
Faudree said in addition to The U of M’s longstanding emphasis on teaching and service, the UMRF is another facet of The U of M’s ongoing commitment to research, including biotech initiatives, digital and technological research, which should ultimately promote regional economic development.
“A research foundation is common for big universities,” Faudree said. “They give more flexibility to support additional research efforts and also contribute to potential business ventures.”
The research-related business transactions that the UMRF will provide are greater flexibility for technology transfers, licensing, contracting, equity participation and future business incubation. While collaborative research with industry is already occurring at the U of M, expanding this type of research will be a main focus of the FedEx Technology Institute, said its executive director, Jim Phillips.
Associate director for the FedEx Technology Institute and associate directpr of Academic Support, John Ellis said the UMRF is important in a number of ways.
“The U of M hasn’t previously been in a position to commercialize intellectual property,” Ellis said. “The UMRF will help accelerate research potential at The University.”
Phillips said the FedEx Technology Institute is already attracting interest from corporations and government agencies with specific projects in digital research and the UMRF’s establishment will only increase opportunities of such business partnerships.
A steering committee, whose members belong to U of M’s board of visitors and who were appointed by Raines, guided the formation of the foundation. Plans call for the UMRF to be fully operative by the beginning of the spring 2003 semester.
