Karen Deak has been selected as executive director of the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame.
Deak has served in the interim role since September 2024. She will lead the unit and oversee the roll out of its strategic reorganization.
“After an extensive national search, I am thrilled that we found our new leader right here at Notre Dame,” said Jeffrey Rhoads, John and Catherine Martin vice president for research, in a press release. “Karen’s distinctive skills and collaborative mindset are exactly what the commercialization and innovation landscape at the university needs right now, especially as we look to build a partnership-centric unit that works hand-in-glove with our faculty, staff, and student researchers, our community and our corporate partners.”
As interim director, Deak has led the refocusing of the team to better support the commercialization of university-created technology. Under this new framework, the team of researcher liaisons focuses on supporting faculty, postdoctoral scholars and graduate student researchers across all disciplines by helping them identify research that is potentially patentable or commercially promising. The structure includes a separate technology protection and licensing team. A new external relations team is responsible for exploring and initiating new external relationships, while also nurturing existing partnerships.
“I’m thrilled by the invitation to become a permanent member of such a great team,” Deak said. “I’ve greatly enjoyed my time in the interim role, and I’m humbled to have been selected to continue leading the IDEA Center as we work in partnership with the university’s researchers.”
Deak brings expertise in patent law, philanthropic fundraising, student engagement and project management to the role. She earned a doctorate in genetics from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“With her extensive background in patent law and commercialization, Karen is well-positioned to lead the IDEA Center into a new chapter of supporting researchers and their ideas on the entire journey from early development to commercial launch,” Rhoads said. “We are excited to have her on the Notre Dame Research team.”
