John Molloy, President and CEO of PARTEQ Innovations, has announced that he will step down as president and CEO, effective immediately. Following a brief holiday, Mr. Molloy will return to PARTEQ in a role yet to be determined.

"John has made an outstanding contribution to Queen’s and PARTEQ over the past 27 years”, stated Tom Beynon, a partner in the law firm of McCarter Grespan Beynon Weir LLP in Kitchener and Vice-Chair of PARTEQ`s Board of Directors. “I would like to thank John for his leadership and wish him well in all his future endeavours.”

Mr. Molloy has been widely recognized for his fairness and integrity and his contribution both to Queen’s and to the technology transfer landscape in Canada. Responsible for the commercialization of intellectual property at Queen’s University since 1986, he has led the creation of a number of venture funds and other financing vehicles for early stage technologies. He is a founding member of Ontario and Canadian technology transfer professional organizations and has advised both the provincial and federal governments on technology transfer and related policies.

“Change is needed and it is important to know when that has to happen. I am excited about taking some time to recharge and then getting back to what I do best – helping build young technology companies,” says Mr. Molloy. “I look forward to my continued interaction with my colleagues.”

Anne Vivian-Scott, President and CEO of BKIN Technologies and PARTEQ`s Executive in Residence, will serve as interim President and CEO and will assume responsibility for day-to-day matters within PARTEQ.

“Through PARTEQ`s on-going work, the impact of Queen’s-based research has been felt worldwide,” says Dr. Steven Liss, Queen`s Vice-Principal (Research) and Chair of PARTEQ Board of Directors. “Our university`s research mission continues to be strengthened through our close ties with the technology transfer community.”

Bob Shoniker from the PARTEQ Board of Directors has been appointed as a special advisor to assist with the transition.

PARTEQ Innovations was founded in 1987 by Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario to commercialize intellectual property arising from university-generated research. A not-for-profit organization, PARTEQ provides institutional researchers with the business, intellectual property, and financial expertise that is needed to advance their discoveries to the market, while returning the proceeds from those activities to researchers and their institutions.

Backgrounder

John Molloy

John Molloy has been widely recognized for his contributions both to Queen’s and to the technology transfer landscape across Canada. He pioneered the creation of startup companies as a means of adding value to university discoveries, and he nurtured a generation of high-tech entrepreneurs at a time when support for such activities at universities was nonexistent. In 2009 his vision for Canada’s first national, collaborative, sector-specific commercialization centre was realized when PARTEQ became the first university-based technology transfer office to be awarded a national Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, namely GreenCentre Canada.

His leadership led to the formation of 48 companies based on Queen’s research, with more than $1.3 billion invested to date in those companies. At the same time, PARTEQ’s activities returned more than $33 million to the university and its inventors.

In 2001 Mr. Molloy received the Queen’s Distinguished Service Award, including Honorary Life Member status on University Council, and also received the Kingston Technology Council’s Champion Award. Earlier this year was presented with the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) AUTM Canada Award in recognition of his outstanding service to the technology transfer community. In June he will be inducted into Kingston’s Business Hall of Fame.

Anne Vivian-Scott

Ms. Vivian-Scott brings a wealth of commercialization experience to PARTEQ Innovations. She is currently President & CEO of Queen’s spin-off company BKIN Technologies Ltd, where over the past three years, she has expanded BKIN’s operations five-fold as they march toward the goal of transforming the clinical management of brain injuries. BKIN’s proprietary KINARM Labs helps neuroscientists and clinical researchers objectively quantify neurological dysfunction through the use of robotics and other advanced technologies.

Previously at PARTEQ Innovations for 15 years, she most recently held the position of Vice-President where she managed a 5 person team engaged in venture creation, prototype development and transacting license deals with companies ranging from start-ups to multi-nationals across all technology sectors. In the late 1990’s she was significantly involved in the Queen’s Scientific Breakthrough Fund, PARTEQ's captive venture seed fund.

Ms. Vivian-Scott brings a breadth of technical and business experience to every project. A chemical engineer by training (Waterloo, 1989), she has worked in the engineering construction field and in corporate finance after her completing her MBA (Concordia, 1995) during the heated days of the telecommunications sector. She was involved in the start-up of the Alliance for the Commercialization of Canadian Technology (ACCT) and was co-chair of ACCT's founding conference in 2005. She is also involved in local economic development initiatives and was on the founding board of Eastern Lake Ontario Regional Innovation Network.