Michael Kinch Appointed Chief Innovation Officer
June 3. 2024
Dear Members of the Stony Brook Community,
Following extensive cross-campus planning and a comprehensive national search, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Kinch will join Stony Brook University as its first-ever chief innovation officer, effective August 1. Michael brings extraordinary experience at the highest levels of industry and academia, including roles at Yale and Washington University—two institutions known for their cultures of innovation and demonstrated success translating knowledge into marketable solutions.
Michael will report directly to Kevin Gardner, Stony Brook’s newly appointed vice president for research. The combination of Michael’s decades-long commitment to innovation and Kevin’s extensive experience advancing entrepreneurship and economic development positions Stony Brook well to advance a campus culture rich in critical innovation while accelerating change-making bench-to-market discoveries by faculty and students. An esteemed molecular biologist and immunologist, Michael will also hold a faculty position in the Department of Pharmacology.
While in the medical science industry, Michael held executive leadership roles in research and development at MedImmune as well as Functional Genetics, Inc, where he raised and managed over $80 million to advance discoveries while successfully refocusing the company’s research in cancer and pandemic illness. His work as an industry leader speaks to how fluidly he blends institutional knowledge and how dedicated he is to strategic interdisciplinary collaboration.
As associate vice chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis, Michael founded the Centers for Research Innovation in Biotechnology and Drug Discovery, restructured innovation and entrepreneurship activities to match unmet societal and medical needs and led new programs to enhance a culture of innovation and team-based learning. While at Yale, he founded and led the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery to translate basic scientific discoveries into biomedical opportunities.
Most recently Michael served as the executive dean of sciences and managing director for the Center of Research Innovation in Biotechnology at Long Island University, enhancing its external partnerships and creating programs to blend scientific, medical, and business expertise to better distribute and apply biomedical discoveries.
The holder of five dozen U.S. patents, Michael has authored multiple books on key trends in the research, development and distribution of medicines and vaccines, and published extensively on medical entrepreneurship, immunology, and drug development. He received his PhD in immunology from Duke University Medical Center and a bachelor of science with distinction in molecular genetics from The Ohio State University.
As a leader who brings people together and who knows that research, scholarship and discovery are a universal language, Michael is an excellent leader to help Stony Brook realize its boldest ambitions to make a profound, positive impact on society for generations to come. Please join me in welcoming him to Stony Brook.
Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President