Ex-officio

The Honorable Roy Cooper, Governor of the State of North Carolina

Machelle Sanders, North Carolina Secretary of Commerce

Chair

Janet Cowell, Chief Executive Officer, Dix Park Conservancy

Members Appointed by the Governor

Yonnie Butler, Executive Director, Biotechnology Center of Excellence, Alamance Community College

Manwell Bynum, Vice President, Head of Business Acceleration, Atrium Health

Philip Cardinale, Intellectual Property and Technology Transitions Partner, Smith Anderson

Gregory Copenhaver, Chancellor's Eminent Professor of Convergent Science and Director, Institute for Convergent Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Michael Cunningham, Trailing Seas Institute

John Daniels, Vice Chancellor for Research, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Christopher Davis, Engineer, United States Army & Fayetteville, NC City Council

Scott Dorney, Executive Director, North Carolina Military Business Center

Gagan Gupta, Attorney, Paynter Law

James Hunter, Vice President, Government Relations, RTI International

Mike McBrierty, Director, State Public Policy and Government Affairs, Biogen Inc.

Vijendra Nalamothu, Founder, CEO, CSO, Entrepreneur, Strategic Advisor

Olga Pierrakos, Founding Professor (current) and Chair (2017-2022) of Engineering at Wake Forest University. Currently on detail to the National Science Foundation as a STEM Education Program Director

Will Quick, Partner, Brooks Pierce LLP

Michael Quillen, Vice President of Academic Programs, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

Tonya Smith-Jackson, Provost, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Antwan Thornton, Patent Attorney and Partner at Brooks, Cameron & Huebsch

Bill Walker, Mattson Family Director of Engineering Entrepreneurship, Duke University

Claudia Walker, K-5 Math Coach, Murphey Traditional Academy, Guilford County Schools

James A. Weaver, Secretary & State Chief Information Officer, North Carolina Department of Information Technology

Alyson Wilson, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, North Carolina State University

Member Appointed by the Speaker, North Carolina House of Representatives

Richard Kristof, COO, TriHelix Investments

Member Appointed by the President Pro Tempore, North Carolina Senate

Thomas J. Williams, President, Strategic Educational Alliances, Inc.

In 1963, the North Carolina General Assembly established the North Carolina Board of Science & Technology to encourage, promote, and support scientific, engineering, and industrial research applications in North Carolina. In the 2014 legislative session, the General Assembly changed the Board's name to Board of Science, Technology & Innovation.

To meet these goals, the Board works to investigate new areas of emerging science and technology and conducts studies on the competitiveness of state industry and research institutions in these fields. The Board also works with the General Assembly and the Governor to put into place the infrastructure and ecosystem that keeps North Carolina on the cutting edge of science, technology and innovaton.

In the earlier days of industrial recruiting, Governor Terry Sanford relied on the board to assist him in persuading firms to locate in North Carolina, particularly if they needed professionally trained people and scientific and engineering support.

Later, as North Carolina's Department of Commerce became more proficient in industrial recruiting, the board, under Governors Jim Hunt and Jim Martin, began to concentrate on strengthening North Carolina's research and education base in fields important to our economic growth and in which our state was in the second or third tier.

Under Governor Mike Easley, the Board continued to ensure that science and technology play an important role in promoting the economic growth and development of the State. The Board developed and became responsible for administering the One North Carolina Small Business Program, the North Carolina Green Business Fund, and the NC Energy R&D Cost-Sharing Program.

Under the leadership of Governor Beverly Perdue, the primary champion for the creation of the Green Business Fund, the Board continued its mission of fostering innovation as an engine of North Carolina's economic development.

Governor Pat McCrory used the Board as one of the state's key resources for improving the economic well‐being and quality of life of all North Carolinians through advancing science, technology, and innovation. Most notably, the Board and its staff assisted in efforts to make North Carolina the home of the $140 million Next Generation Power Electronics National Manufacturing Innovation Institute (now called PowerAmerica), awarded in January 2014. It also led strategic initiatives designed to help North Carolina maximize the economic impacts of its strengths in data science and data analytics, as well as an Innovation-to-Jobs initiative  and University Innovation initiative designed to help the state's universities and companies maximize the economic potential of their innovations.

Current Governor Roy Cooper is using the Board to expand the benefits of innovation throughout North Carolina via efforts to improve the innovation ecosystems of communities throughout the state. These efforts include contined funding for the One North Carolina Small Business Program, with an increased track record on awarding grants to companies in economically distressed counties. Additionally, the Board's staff is playing a key role in fulfilling the directives of Executive Order 80: North Carolina's Commitment to Address Climate Change and Transition to a Clean Energy Economy, most nobably by participating in the Climate Change Interagency Council and overseeing the development of clean energy and clean transportation workforce assessments.

According to NC General Statute 143B-472.81, the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation consists of the Governor, the Secretary of Commerce, and 23 members appointed as follows. 

The Governor shall appoint:

• one member from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, nominated by the President of the University of North Carolina;
• one member from North Carolina State University at Raleigh, nominated by the President of the University of North Carolina;
• two members from other components of the University of North Carolina, one of which shall be from a historically black college or university, nominated by the President of the University of North Carolina;
• one member from Duke University, nominated by the President of Duke University;
• one member from a private college or university, other than Duke University, in North Carolina, nominated by the President of the Association of Private Colleges and Universities;
• one member of the North Carolina Community College System;
• one member representing K-12 public education; 
• six members from private industry in North Carolina;
• seven at-large members.

Two members shall be appointed by the General Assembly:

• one shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, 
• one shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in accordance with G.S. 120-121.

According to NC General Statute 143B-472.80, the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation was established to:

• Identify, and to support and foster the identification of, important research needs of both public and private agencies, institutions and organizations in North Carolina that relate to the State's economic growth and development;

• Make recommendations concerning policies, procedures, organizational structures and financial requirements that will promote effective use of scientific and technological resources in fulfilling the research needs identified and that will promote the economic growth and development of North Carolina;

• Allocate funds available to the board to support research projects, to purchase research equipment and supplies, to construct or modify research facilities, to employ consultants, and for other purposes necessary or appropriate in discharging the duties of the board;

• Advise and make recommendations to the Governor, the General Assembly, the Secretary of Commerce, and any North Carolina nonprofit corporation with which the Department of Commerce contracts pursuant to G.S. 143B-431.01 on the role of science, technology, and innovation in the economic growth and development of North Carolina.