SSTI Digest
People
The National Science Foundation has named Judith A. Ramaley as the Foundation's new Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources (EHR). A biologist, Dr. Ramaley served most recently as president of the University of Vermont.
People
New Technology Week reports William Schneider, president of International Planning Services, has been picked to chair the Defense Science Board. 
People
Dennis J. Sysko is serving as interim president of the Anne Arundel County High Technology Council, following the resignation of president John G. Rice. Mr. Sysko, who is currently serving as the group's treasurer, will perform both roles until a replacement president is elected in January.
NIH Offers Eight Licensing Opportunities
The Office of Technology Transfer in the National Institutes of Health has published abstracts of eight government-owned patents that are available for licensing. To help bring these commercialization opportunities to the attention of a wider audience, SSTI has reprinted the abstracts on the following webpage: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/072001t2.htm
Missouri Targets $21.5 Million for Life Science Research
At the end of June, Governor Bob Holden signed an executive order committing $21.5 million of the state’s tobacco settlement funds for biotech research during fiscal year 2002. Governor Holden made his announcement prior to signing Senate Bill 500, which expands the state’s job training program to prepare Missouri’s work force for new careers in life sciences. Although the General Assembly this year appropriated $21.5 million in tobacco settlement funds for life sciences research and development, no legislation was enacted to govern the expenditure of the money.
The executive order will direct the State Office of Administration to administer the funds through the Life Sciences Research Committee, composed of the commissioner of administration, and seven other members appointed by the governor. The committee will solicit and review biotechnology research proposals, and funds will be disbursed through research contracts for proposals that have the potential to provide the greatest health and economic benefits to Missourians.
NCOE Examines Location of Country's Fastest-Growing Companies
While cities such as Boston and San Francisco, not surprisingly, are home to many high-growth companies, a recent report from the National Commission on Entrepreneurship (NCOE) reveals large concentrations of high-growth companies in less familiar areas such as Elkhart, IN, and Provo, UT.
High Growth Companies: Mapping America’s Entrepreneurial Landscape provides a detailed picture of the regions where businesses have shown rapid growth. The report was released July 11 as a starting point for understanding the economic development in the nation’s 394 Labor Market Areas (LMAs), as designated by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Agriculture.
The key findings of the report include:
$10 Million Gift Opens Tech Center at Wharton
The William and Phyllis Mack Center for Technological Innovation was founded last month at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The center is the product of a $10 million gift from William L. Mack, the president and senior managing partner of the Mack Organization — a national owner, investor and developer of warehouse facilities.
The center serves to house all of Wharton's technology management initiatives, including Wharton faculty members' research and publishing activities, an endowed professorship and a student-run conference. The Mack Professorship honors a senior faculty member whose primary commitment is to teaching and research in technological innovation management.
Useful Stats: NASVF, Moneytree Publish 6-Year VC Results by State
Aggregated venture capital investments are commonly used by state and local policymakers to assess the “health” of their tech-based economies. As a result, some of the most accessed pages of the SSTI Weekly Digest web archives have been the state-by-state tables SSTI generates with the release of each quarter’s Moneytree™ venture capital survey results.
The merger of the PricewaterhouseCoopers and Venture One surveys late last year into a single Moneytree™ survey, however, made long-term analysis inaccurate, if not impossible, for practitioners and researchers alike.
Urban Students Show Improvement in Math and Science
Math and science students exposed to high expectations, challenging curriculum and sound instructional methods may hold an advantage over their peers, suggests a report funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Academic Excellence for All Urban Students presents data from a study of 22 urban school districts comprising the NSF's Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI), showing great gains in student achievement by school districts that participated in the USI program for the longest period of time. The report is the result of eight years of research under the USI program, which began in 1993. It also is part of a larger ongoing study by Systemic Research, Inc., How Reform Works: An Evaluative Study of National Science Foundation's Urban Systemic Initiatives.
Women Perceive New Economy Much Like Old, Survey Finds
Public and private efforts to attract more women into high-tech fields of information technology have a significant hurdle to overcome: 60 percent of women already in IT jobs wouldn’t choose the same career path if starting over, according to Women In Technology, a recent survey by DeLoitte & Touche. Many of the reasons women cited for the dissatisfaction – pay equity, glass ceiling for promotions, and few role models – are already long-standing and too-common issues for women in more traditional industries. Findings include:
Is there a glass ceiling in the high tech industry?
Nearly two-thirds of women surveyed believe a glass ceiling is a reality for women in the high technology industry (62 percent), whereas 62 percent of men felt that this barrier is a non-issue for women in the high tech industry. High tech is defined as computer hardware or software, telecommunications, dot-coms, or e-commerce departments.
State & Local Round Up
Camden, Arkansas
The June 19, 2001 issue of The Bond Buyer reported that Camden, with a population just over 13,000, approved a one-cent sales tax to raise $6 million over four years to support downtown business revitalization efforts. Plans include construction of a business incubator and development of a 500-acre business park.
Missouri
Washington Boasts High Employment Growth
Washington has the second highest employment growth rate in the U.S., according to the 2001 Index of Innovation and Technology for Washington — a report released by the Washington Technology Center. The state's 33 percent increase in employment growth rate over the last five years allowed it to move up four positions, second only to Utah.
The report reinforces numerous trends found in the 2000 Index. Among them is the growth of capital investment in Washington companies. Washington's overall rate of growth in venture investment during the past two years has grown at more than half the rate of other major regions. However, Washington's rate is much smaller than that of most other areas of the country. The report suggests that this trend could cause the state to fall behind other regions.