Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative Eric Toone to serve on national council

Eric Toone lab in LSRC
Eric Toone lab in LSRC

Eric Toone, vice provost and director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, has been named to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The NACIE advises the Department of Commerce on how to enable entrepreneurial success and promote innovation in the economy. On Monday, the Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, announced the appointment of 30 nonprofit and academic leaders—Toone included—to the council.

“It’s really an opportunity to interact with a much larger group of people from around the country and tell people about what we’re doing at Duke,” Toone said.

As a member of the council, Toone will advise Pritzker on all aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship including policies and programs designed for aspiring entrepreneurs, he said.

“The members of NACIE provide important counsel to the Department of Commerce on the types of federal policies that will support entrepreneurship, innovation, and job-driven workforce training, all of which are critical to American competitiveness,” Pritzker said in the release. “As ‘America’s Innovation Agency,’ we value the expertise of our private sector partners and appreciate the opportunity to incorporate their views into our policymaking process.”

Toone noted that he hopes to cement the important role of entrepreneurship at the university setting and create an “ecosystem” in which the knowledge accumulated at the universities can grow into real action.

He said that he is excited to help direct national policy and learn about the work of other entrepreneurship leaders across the country.

Toone, who is also currently a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, came to Duke in 1990 and founded Aerie Pharmaceuticals—a company that focuses on the discovery and development of treatments for glaucoma—in 2006. 

He has also worked with the U.S. Department of Energy and is a founding member of the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy, which advances energy technologies not yet ready for private-sector investment.

“It’s a great honor,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “Whenever any of your faculty are named to national commissions like that, it’s a great recognition of the work and also of the University.”

Toone will serve a two-year term. The group meets four times a year, with the first meeting this October.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative Eric Toone to serve on national council ” on social media.