Joseph “Jay” Walsh, a biomedical engineering scholar with a lengthy track record of turning transformative research into economic opportunity, has been named interim vice president for economic development and innovation for the University of Illinois System, President Tim Killeen announced Thursday.
Walsh will assume the new role in a designate capacity on May 16, pending approval of the Board of Trustees.
Walsh, 60, joins the U of I System from Northwestern University, where he has served since 2019 as senior advisor to the president for research and science. From 2007 through 2019, he was the university’s vice president for research.
Walsh brings strong leadership experience in higher education, Killeen said.
“I am delighted to welcome Jay to the U of I System. He has both a vision for and established academic credentials in translating research into economic progress,” Killeen said. “Jay has served in research and leadership roles at Northwestern for more than 30 years, and I’ve long known him as both a colleague and as someone who has a real affinity for connecting the innovators of higher education with kindred spirits in the commercial world.”
Walsh said he looks forward to helping the university system in its role as a driver for the economies of the state and the region.
“I’m elated to be joining one of the world’s great university systems, a phenomenal organization that reflects all of the rich and diverse heritage of the state it serves,” Walsh said. “I am particularly honored to be part of the U of I System in this challenging moment, when the university and its mission to help power the economic engine of the state have never been more vital.”
As a faculty researcher, Walsh’s work on laser-tissue interactions laid the scientific foundation for many of today's standard laser-based procedures in medicine and surgery. He is widely published and his research has led to eight patents.
Walsh succeeds Edward Seidel, who will become the 28th president of the University of Wyoming, effective in July. Seidel was a key member of the team that launched the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) and served in a number of roles within the U of I System and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since coming to the latter as a post-doctoral researcher in 1989.
“I want to thank Ed for his leadership, vision, and dedication,” Killeen said. “We wish him great success at the University of Wyoming.”
Walsh will lead an office that works with the president to drive initiatives that support the economic development mission of the system’s universities. Walsh will collaborate with leadership across the universities, which have a nearly $1 billion portfolio of sponsored research, and with the leadership of DPI and IIN.
In his current role as senior advisor to the president at Northwestern, Walsh’s portfolio includes the development of several research initiatives. Between 2007 and 2019, as vice president for research, Walsh helped Northwestern nearly double its portfolio of sponsored research in the STEM fields, social sciences, arts and humanities, from $416 million to $798 million. Over that period, the number of interdisciplinary research institutes and centers that reported to the Office for Research increased from 19 to more than 50, and Walsh and his team played a key role in recruiting and retaining faculty.
Walsh also works to advance research and economic development in the Chicago area. He serves on the boards of MxD, the national hub for digital manufacturing; the Current innovation hub focused on water technologies; the Chicago Council on Science and Technology, where he is board chair; and Argonne National Laboratory. Walsh also chairs the board of University Industry Demonstration Partnership, serves on the MIT Corporation Visiting Committee for Sponsored Research, and has served on the U.S. Secretary of Navy’s Advisory Panel.
Walsh arrived at Northwestern in 1988 as a professor of biomedical engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He later served as associate dean for graduate studies and research at the school, and eventually senior associate dean.
Walsh served as vice president and president of the American Society for Lasers in Medicine and Surgery; is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering; was awarded the Advisor of the Year and the Teacher of the Year awards from the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern; and received the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, among many others.
Walsh is a three-time graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering and a PhD in medical engineering from the joint Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology.
