DURHAM, N.H. - Marc Sedam, chief operating officer of Qualyst, has been named the executive director of the University of New Hampshire's Office for Research Partnerships and Commercialization (ORPC) after a national search. Sedam graduated from UNH in 1993 with a bachelor's in biochemistry. He will be at the university full time beginning Nov. 2, 2010.

"Marc brings extensive experience in managing innovation, technology transfer and start-up formation related to biotechnology, new therapeutics and research tools," said Jan Nisbet, senior vice provost for research at UNH. "We are lucky to have someone with his skill to lead the university's efforts to protect and promote the intellectual property of the UNH community as well as foster partnerships between UNH and the business communities in New Hampshire, northern New England, the nation and the world."

Sedam holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked as a research chemist and inventor. He also managed the life sciences technology portfolio in UNC's Office of Technology Development, improving new company formation to second in the nation in 2001. Most recently, Sedam led Qualyst, Inc., a firm that develops and markets industry-changing technologies related to drug transport. Qualyst is a UNC start-up company, launched in 2003.

The Office for Research Partnerships and Commercialization (ORPC) advocates for, manages, and promotes UNH's intellectual property; promotes partnerships between UNH and the business community; and manages UNH technologies available for licensing. The ORPC also hosts the NH Innovation Research Center. http://www.orpc.unh.edu/.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.
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