Julie Lenzer

As the former Associate Vice President of Innovation and Economic Development and Co-Director of UM Ventures, Julie Lenzer was charged with fostering and supporting the development that is currently underway in the Discovery District, UMD's research park and Greater College Park. She also promoted and facilitated productive, university-wide collaboration to launch startup ventures based upon University intellectual property, as well as maximized synergies between UMD and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to leverage strengths of each and encourage technology commercialization.

Previoulsy Julie was appointed to lead the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). In her capacity as Director of the OIE, she drove programs and policies that support innovative economic development such as innovation-based entrepreneurship and regional innovation clusters.