Marquette University has formed an Office of Corporate Engagement, which will begin operations Monday.
Maura Donovan has been hired to the new role of vice president for corporate engagement to lead the department, which will centralize the university’s corporate engagement efforts. The OCE will focus on forming corporate sponsorships, including for research; technology transfer; talent development through executive education and academic programs; philanthropy; and contracts and service partnerships.
Some functions that are currently performed by the office of Jeanne Hossenlopp, vice president for research and innovation, will be shifted to Donovan’s office, a university spokesman said.
Donovan was previously executive director of economic development at the University of Minnesota, where she helped boost corporate-sponsored research, partnered the college with statewide economic development organizations and brought companies in contact with students. She also has worked as chief technology officer for Decade of Discovery, a program of University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic, where she helped them work together on diabetes and obesity research. And she has served as vice president of therapy research and development, and vice president of life sciences R&D at Medtronic Inc. Donovan holds a doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s in chemistry and Russian from Macalester College.
“Dr. Donovan brings to Marquette rich experience in both higher education and industry, and the university is so fortunate to have someone of her caliber and character lead the new Office of Corporate Engagement,” Lovell said. “As a Catholic, Jesuit university, it is vitally important that our partnerships always start with mission alignment and innovation. I am confident that Dr. Donovan will help us grow our current partnerships and forge new and creative mission-aligned relationships that ultimately increase support for groundbreaking research, bolster critical academic and student success programs and diversify our revenue streams.”
“I feel fortunate to be joining an institution with a strong mission, programs and sense of community,” Donovan said. “I look forward to working collaboratively to maximize Marquette’s corporate engagement opportunities.”
