Special Recruiting Project, Knowledge Enterprise

Arizona State University (ASU) is seeking a strategic, collaborative, and experienced leader to serve as an executive leader for the Knowledge Enterprise (KE)—the research, entrepreneurship, and innovation organization with ASU. This individual will be critical in supporting the Knowledge Enterprise in achieving its goals by providing leadership, management, and direction, while advancing key initiatives and managing complex interdisciplinary efforts. As a key strategic partner to the Executive Vice President, Sally Morton, they will be charged with helping to drive execution of the $1 billion research enterprise, turning high-level strategy and ideas into tangible, impactful results. 

A leading public university based in the metropolitan Phoenix area, ASU is realizing a bold reinvention of higher education as the New American University. Under the leadership of President Michael Crow, ASU has developed numerous programs and units that bridge and transcend disciplinary boundaries to enable the exploration and discovery of new knowledge while developing solutions to serve Arizona and the world at large. The University has strong and simultaneous commitments to educational attainment, innovation, and sustainable outcomes, and assumes significant responsibility for the cultural, social, and economic vitality of its surrounding communities. This strategy is built around intellectual fusion, use-inspired research, and scholarship that addresses today’s largest and most essential societal problems. 

The Knowledge Enterprise advances a vibrant environment of discovery, interdisciplinary research and innovation, trains and supports entrepreneurs, leads the university’s economic development activities, engages with corporate partners and international development agencies, and facilitates technology transfer. It houses several trailblazing multidisciplinary institutes and initiatives and boldly aims not only to find solutions to grand challenges but also to fundamentally reshape how the world solves problems. Current research priorities include human health, microelectronics, planetary health, global security, space exploration, and water.

This leader will join ASU—and KE—at a time of exceptional growth and momentum, and will be tasked with executing major initiatives and partnerships across KE’s diverse units and programs, with a particular emphasis on driving entrepreneurial, innovative efforts and fostering partnerships to achieve major goals across academia, government, and industry. Key efforts include, but are not limited to, artificial intelligence, health, microelectronics, and space.

Critically, this individual will serve as a visible, high-functioning collaborator with a creative spark and a hunger for a fast-paced, highly matrixed, and forward-looking environment. They will be able to quickly adapt to changing priorities and advance a wide range of projects housed in KE and across the institution. They will exemplify ASU’s inclusive values and commitment to excellence, fostering an environment of innovation, collaboration, and operational effectiveness in alignment with the University’s charter and goals.

INQUIRIES AND NOMINATIONS

Inquiries, nominations, and referrals can be sent below. CVs and supporting materials encouraged.

Special Project Team:

David Bellshaw, Carley Davenport, Luciano Zuniga, and Kendra Moleé 

Isaacson, Miller

Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information, please visit: https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html and https://www.asu.edu/titleIX/