Dave Washburn

Executive Director

Dave is Executive Director of the Michigan State University Research Foundation. In this role, he leads the Foundation and its wholly owned subsidiary companies Spartan Innovations, Red Cedar Ventures, Michigan Rise and all real estate activity. Dave served as President and CEO of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation and also spent 10 years at the University of Illinois where he led the software commercialization practice at the Office of Technology Management.

Dave held management and directorship roles in venture-backed software companies including Wolfram Research, Kuck & Associates (acquired by Intel), InstallShield Software Corporation (acquired by Macrovision), and Argus Systems Group (acquired by General Dynamics). He holds a BA and MBA from the Gies College of Business at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and began his career as a data analyst with Information Resources in Chicago.