Inc. Magazine lists UW-Madison among ‘Five Universities You Can Do Business With’

UW–Madison was among five business-friendly universities lauded in the opinion section of the February 2006 issue of Inc. magazine.

The article, “Five Universities You Can Do Business With,” was written by contributing editor Carl Schramm, who also is president and CEO of the Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which fosters education and entrepreneurship in the U.S.

In addition to UW–Madison, Schramm cited the University of California, Berkeley, the California Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as “the elite of the technology transfer world.”

Schramm also noted the following:

• The five consistently garner about 100 patents per year;
• They are highly ranked when it comes to generating businesses built around technologies created in their labs;
• “Prolific schools” treat business people as “allies and equals;”
• “Researchers at these schools are generally open to and ready for interaction with companies (even start-ups);”
• “Administrators at the Big Five play their part in nurturing tech transfer by resisting the temptation to monitor and regulate business relationships aggressively.”

Frank Byrne, president of St. Marys Hospital Medical Center in Madison, agrees with Schramm’s assessment. Byrne says the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the Fluno Center and the Office of Corporate Relations, “with its vigorous business outreach program,” are among the crucial areas of UW–Madison that have built strong bridges to the business community.

“UW-Madison ‘broke the code’ a long time ago on technology transfer when it figured out how to move research and technology from the lab to businesses,” says Byrne. “The university has been a vital economic engine for our community and our state.”

Reflecting on the Inc. article, WARF Managing Director Carl Gulbrandsen says: “In the past few years, WARF has worked very hard to partner better with business. We are pleased to see that it appears to be working.”