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For immediate release
December 1, 2008 |
Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University recently joined the Chesapeake Crescent Innovation Alliance with six other leading research universities from across Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia with the goal to drive regional innovation, economic performance and global competitiveness.
“Georgetown is honored to collaborate with other leading institutions in this way,” said Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia. “This partnership goes to the very heart of Georgetown’s mission, fostering a broad exchange of ideas across fields, and enabling scholars and leaders to critically engage in the community in ways that can make a significant difference.”
The Alliance, which also includes George Mason, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins Universities, as well as the University System of Maryland, University of Virginia and Virginia Tech, aims to examine areas of potential cooperation and collaboration in regional centers of excellence, entrepreneurial development and early-stage investment in order to generate greater economic performance, jobs and startups in the region. The group will also work towards moving research-based inventions to marketplace commercialization.
The Alliance is being formed as an outgrowth of the Chesapeake Crescent Initiative, a broader campaign launched earlier this year to improve the region’s economic and environmental strength by bringing together area leaders such as Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, federal legislative and executive officials and more than 20 leading regional business executives.
“We believe the scale and velocity of new company formation and commercialization of science-based innovation can be dramatically improved,” Kaine said earlier this year. “We must work to break down barriers to information flow and encourage interdisciplinary research and innovations across jurisdictions.”
Chesapeake Crescent Initiative founders and vice-chairs, George Vradenburg and Herb Miller believe the CCIA will add to the economic growth and innovative advancement of the region. In a joint statement, they said the coming together of the political and academic leadership of the Chesapeake Region will result in breakthroughs catapulting the area into a national model for the country.
“The country is on the cusp of change and the CCIA will be one of the organizations that leads the way,” said Vradenburg and Miller.
About the Chesapeake Crescent
The Chesapeake Crescent is a public and private partnership to advance technology, clean energy, workforce housing and transportation in the Chesapeake Crescent region. Founded by government leaders and entrepreneurs, it is a collaboration of powerful stakeholders that will advance the region in ways no single stakeholder could achieve individually.
About Georgetown University
Georgetown University is the oldest and largest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in Washington, DC, Doha, Qatar and around the world. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.
