Marvin Parnes is associate vice president for research and executive director of research administration at the University of Michigan where he shares oversight for the Office of the Vice President for Research’s infrastructure and administration, research administration, technology transfer, liaison with industry, and day-to-day administration of units reporting to the Vice President for Research. He coordinates “seed funding” for new scholarly projects and special needs in the research community. As executive director of research administration, he manages the Division of Research Development and Administration, which handles the development and administration of externally funded research, scholarship, and creative activity.

Mr. Parnes has been active in the restructuring of technology transfer at the University of Michigan, and one of the key developers of the Michigan Universities Commercialization Initiative (MUCI). Most recently, he has worked with the University of Michigan executive officers on the role and strategy of the University in regional economic development, resulting in the formation of SPARK, a partnership between universities, government, and businesses to promote innovation in the Ann Arbor area. He is currently the Principle Investigator for a $2million planning grant from the Mott Foundation and a $1.5million grant from the New Economy Initiative, directed at establishing a State-wide consortium of universities to promote regional economic development and entrepreneurism, entitled the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIIE).

At U-M, he serves on the Executive or Advisory Committee of many academic programs including, the South Africa Program, the Center for Global Health, the Arts of Citizenship, the UM Depression Center, the Organizational Studies Program, the Center for the Study of Complex Systems, the National Center for Institutional Diversity, and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

He serves on several intellectual property and technology development committees and boards, including, the advisory board for the University of Michigan Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, and the Michigan Intellectual Property Commercialization Committee, as well as the Board of Directors of Fraunhofer USA. Mr. Parnes is the past Chair and Treasurer of the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, as well as a member of the Board of Directors and has recently served as Chair of the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), a national association of research universities based in Washington, D.C.

Marvin Parnes received his BA in English from the City College of the City University of New York and his Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan. He has been on the professional staff at UM since 1974.