Charles W. Wessner

Dr. Wessner currently teaches Global Innovation Policy at Georgetown University and is a powerful advocate of effective innovation policies.  Previously, he served for two decades as a National Academies Scholar where he founded and directed the National Academy of Sciences Program on Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.  He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise on innovation policy, including public-private partnerships, entrepreneurship, early-stage financing, 21st Century manufacturing, and the special needs and benefits of high-technology industry. His most recent publication is “Regional Renaissance: How New York’s Capital Region Became a Nanotechnology Powerhouse”. It describes in detail this successful effort to restore growth in a region hit hard by globalization and draws policy lessons that have attracted the interest of policy makers across the globe.

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Dr. Wessner is also the leading U.S. expert on the multi-billion small business award (SBIR) program. As an outgrowth of his work with the U.S. government, he advises technology agencies, universities, and government ministries in Europe and Asia.  In addition, he cooperates closely with international organizations and lectures at major universities in the United States and abroad.

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The overarching goal of his work is to develop a better understanding of how we can bring new technologies forward to address global challenges in health, climate, energy, water, infrastructure, and security. Reflecting his commitment to Trans-Atlantic cooperation, he was named an Officer of the Order of Merit by the President of France.