The university entrepreneur: a census and survey of attributes and outcomes Tucker J. Marion 1 , Denise R. Dunlap 2 and John H. Friar 3 1 Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group, College of Business Administration, Northeastern University, 305A Hayden Hall, Boston, MA 02115, USA. t.marion@neu.edu 2 International Business and Strategy Group, College of Business Administration, Northeastern University, 319 Hayden Hall, Boston, MA 02115, USA. d.dunlap@neu.edu 3 Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group, College of Business Administration, Northeastern University, 212 Hayden Hall, Boston, MA 02115, USA. j.friar@neu.edu This study looks at 400 technology transfer disclosures and their inventors over a 10-year period at a large US research university. We find that faculty productivity in terms of patenting is not related to commercialization success, but entrepreneurial qualities are significantly correlated. Results indicate that the significant factors in successfully forming a university spin-out are the level of experience of the faculty member and participation in an industry sponsored research agreement. We also find that the academic inventor’s entrepreneurial experience and inclination toward commercialization have the most posi- tive impacts on the formation of a new venture. 1. Introduction I n the United States, universities are the main setting for high-level, primary research. Since the 1980s, research universities have not only consumed and created technological knowledge, but also increas- ingly have been viewed by policy makers as engines of economic growth via the commercialization of intel- lectual property through technology transfer into the private sector (Siegel and Phan, 2004; Markman et al., 2005, 2008). Since the Bayh–Dole Act was passed in 1980, there have been approximately 5,700 university-based start-ups formed. The translation of technology into high-growth new, stand-alone busi- nesses or business units is paramount to sustaining US economic growth and standards of living. Unfortu- nately, research suggests that only 12% to 16% of university-assigned inventions are transferred to private new ventures (AUTM, 2001, 2002; Di Grego- rio and Shane, 2003). Much of the literature on tech- nological knowledge transfer efficacy has been focused on the generation of patents and licensing and on the efforts of centralized technology transfer organizations (Siegel and Phan, 2004), and not on the key component needed to foster development of sus- tainable new ventures, the academic entrepreneur who guides the research and is a central figure in seeing the technology commercialized. Mosey and Wright (2007) note that there has been a lack of systematic studies that identify the extent to which academic entrepreneurs exist at universities. According to Markman et al. (2008), the process by which academic inventions are transferred or spilled over into external benefits such as new start-ups outside of the university is still an underdeveloped research stream in the literature. Mosey and Wright R&D Management ••, ••, 2012. © 2012 The Authors. R&D Management © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA, 02148, USA. 1