New Cambridge Enterprise chief executive is Dr Jim Glasheen
Jim Glasheen has been appointed as chief executive of Cambridge Enterprise, the innovation arm of the University of Cambridge. Dr Glasheen will assume his post later in 2024.
Dr Glasheen has 25 years of experience across industry and university environments in both Silicon Valley and the Cambridge Massachusetts innovation ecosystem.
He arrives in the UK from Clade Therapeutics in Cambridge Massachusetts, where he was president, co-founder. He has also served as Executive Vice Chancellor – Innovation and Business Development at UMASS Medical School. He has extensive venture investment experience as general partner and life-science co-lead at Palo Alto-based Technology Partners Venture Capital.
Dr Glasheen completed a post-doctoral fellowship at University of California, Berkeley and holds a PhD in Biology from Harvard University, a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Fellowship at Universität des Saarlandes and a BS from Duke University.
Dr Glasheen said: “I look forward to helping to ensure the innovations that spring from the labs at University of Cambridge achieve their broader positive impact on society. The University sits at the hub of the Cambridge and broader UK innovation ecosystems and I relish the opportunity to partner with the many stakeholders that surround it.”
Diarmuid O’Brien, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation, University of Cambridge, had been appointed chief executive of Cambridge Enterprise in 2021: however, the workload had been reduced to one day a week after he assumed the innovation role at the start of 2024.
"Jim’s unique understanding of innovation from all perspectives will be hugely beneficial in driving forward the ambition and impact of Cambridge Enterprise and the University of Cambridge,” said Dr O’Brien. “I am excited to see how Cambridge Enterprise will continue to set the standard for university innovation under his leadership. My congratulations to Jim and the whole of Cambridge Enterprise on his appointment.”
The University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice congratulated Dr Glasheen on his appointment and thanked Dr O’Brien for his leadership of Cambridge Enterprise.
She said: “My congratulations to Jim on his appointment to this important role. The depth and breadth of his experience across many sectors will be invaluable as he leads Cambridge Enterprise in its critical role of enabling innovation and impact through University research.
“I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Diarmuid O’Brien for his exceptional leadership of Cambridge Enterprise over the past three years. I am glad to be able to continue to work with him in his role as Cambridge’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation.”
A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge said: “Diarmuid remains as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, a role he took up recently. Appointing a new CEO for Cambridge Enterprise was part of the plan once he became Pro-Vice-Chancellor and enables him to focus on the Pro-Vice-Chancellor role.”
