Richard Chylla is executive director of the University of Virginia Licensing and Ventures Group. Chylla leads an office of professionals who manage the university’s diverse intellectual property portfolio, including identifying and protecting intellectual property, marketing and negotiating technology transfer opportunities with industry, and helping to identify innovations with the potential to form start-up companies.
Chylla has been in academic technology transfer since 2008. Previously, he served as the executive director at Michigan State University’s technology transfer office and the director of technology transfer for the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. Prior to moving to academia, Chylla was the global strategy director for one of the business units at BASF where he managed the intellectual property strategy, portfolio and technology acquisitions for that business. He co-teaches the Patent and Licensing Clinic at the Law School.