UD prez named to National Commission on Innovation

University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis has been named to the new National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, the university announced on Tuesday.

The commission, which includes prominent leaders of universities, corporations, national laboratories and nonprofits, is an initiative of the nonpartisan Council on Competitiveness. Its mission is to support research ventures, partnerships, public policy recommendations and advocacy in an effort to maximize the United States’ competitiveness in innovation.

“It’s essential that we build and support an innovation culture at UD and across the nation, because it is the key ingredient to advancing both our economy and our society,” Assanis said to UDaily. “Adopting an innovation mindset means approaching every challenge as an opportunity to develop novel and sustainable solutions that emerge from strong research and critical thinking.”

The commission, which launched in 2018, has three working groups:

• Developing and Deploying at Scale Disruptive Technologies
• Exploring the Future of Sustainable Production and Consumption, and Work
• Optimizing the Environment for the National Innovation System