Orin Herskowitz

Orin Herskowitz is the Senior VP of Intellectual Property and Tech Transfer for Columbia University, as well as Executive Director of Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV).  He also is an Adjunct Professor, teaching a course on Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs.

He has served on boards or served as the Principle Investigator for a number of innovation and entrepreneurship-focused initiatives, including the NYC Media Lab, the PowerBridgeNY clean energy proof-of-concept center, the Columbia Coulter Translational Partnership, the NYC ACRE technology incubator, and Harlem Biospace; has been a peer reviewer for innovation and entrepreneurship awards for the National Science Foundation and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; and is a frequent speaker at IP- and technology-focused events in New York City and across the country.  Orin is also an appointee to a two-year term on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), a Federal committee that advises the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on issues related to accelerating innovation, enhancing entrepreneurship, and expanding workforce skill development.

Columbia Technology Ventures is the tech transfer office of Columbia University, with the core objective to facilitate the transfer of inventions from academic research to outside organizations for the benefit of society on a local, national and global basis.  Each year, CTV manages more than 350 invention disclosures emerging from Columbia’s research labs, leading to over 100 license deals and over 20 new start-ups. Columbia Technology Ventures has a particular focus on patent-backed start-up companies. Over the years, CTV has been involved with launching well over 200 companies based on Columbia’s technologies.

Orin received his BA from Yale and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business.  Prior to joining Columbia, Orin spent seven years at the Boston Consulting Group’s New York office as a strategy consultant, and was previously an entrepreneur and a consultant to start-ups.