Bio
Lee Cheatham is the director of operations at the Biodesign Institute
and general manager of the Biodesign Impact Accelerator, a new
initiative focused on dramatically streamlining and improving the
commercial translation of scientific innovations and discoveries
generated by the institute.
In his role as operations director, Cheatham oversees all day-to-day
aspects of a number of administrative functions in the institute,
including security, facilities, health and environmental safety, and
information technology. In his role as general manager of the
Biodesign Impact Accelerator, he will be responsible for program
development and oversight of all operations.
His professional career spans more than three decades. Prior to his
role at Biodesign, Cheatham served as executive director of the highly
successful Washington Technology Center (WTC) from 1998 to 2009,
providing strategic, financial and operational leadership to the
organization. WTC is Washington State’s leading technology-based
economic development organization, and it supports and performs
research that leads to commercialized innovation. Under
Cheatham’s leadership, WTC expanded access to capital for
Washington's small growing companies through the creation of the WTC
Angel Network and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
assistance program. WTC focused on connecting companies to industry
resources with new initiatives such as the annual "Washington's
Innovation Summit" and WTC's federally funded nanotechnology
research program.
Prior to his position at WTC, Cheatham served in diverse roles that
include founding a startup company providing software, technology,
training and consulting to the real estate sector, serving as
vice president of a technology company serving public libraries,
leading an energy related manufacturing project for Pacific Northwest
Laboratory, and working in a variety of engineering related
roles. He received his PhD in electrical engineering from
Carnegie-Mellon University in 1984.
