The Founding Story of the First Technology Transfer Office with Kevin Walters

In this episode, we’re taking a trip back to the time before the establishment of the very first university technology transfer office in the United States in 1925. 

A set of fortuitous circumstances in Kevin Walters’ life gave him the opportunity to write a Ph.D. dissertation on the history of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), where he has worked for the past 12 years. 

In this episode, Kevin explains how the discoveries that stubborn scientist Dr. Harry Steenbock made about vitamin D led to the filing of a patent which became the basis for the creation of WARF. 

This is just the beginning of the story, so be sure to tune in next week for part two.

In This Episode:

[01:05] An overview of Kevin Walters’ educational and career trajectory to date. 

[02:11] The origin story of Kevin’s journey at WARF. 

[03:29] How Kevin’s dissertation topic came about. 

[08:39] Factors that led to the establishment of the first technology transfer office at Madison-Wisconsin.

[12:59] Breakthroughs made by Stephen Babcock in the late 19th century. 

[18:00] Why Dr. Harry Steenbock is central to the founding story of WARF. 

[20:07] The story of George Keto.

[22:29] Advantages and disadvantages of Dr. Steenbock’s controlling personality. 

[25:15] A central argument of Kevin’s dissertation. 

[26:07] Dr. Steenbock’s first patent. 

[30:11] The discovery that led to the patent which became the basis for the creation of WARF. 

[33:38] Factors that enabled the creation of WARF. 

Resources:

Kevin Walters on LinkedIn

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation