Harrison resigns from legal team

A key member of Central’s legal team is leaving for greener pastures in a
move that may inhibit the Office of Information Technology’s applied research
growth.

After one year at CMU, David Harrison, assistant general council, will work his
last day Oct. 31. He will begin work as the associate vice president for legal
affairs with the University of North Carolina Nov. 15.

“My focus here was intellectual property, research and those affiliated areas,”
Harrison said. “This is what I will be doing over there, but on a much bigger
scale.”

His work with CMU’s IT department helped to pave the way for applied research,
such as the Dendrimer project. Dendritic Nanotechnologies Ltd contracted with
CMU to develop products using pioneering dendrimer technology involving the manmade
molecule.

“A lot of these research opportunities have legal requirements,” said
Robert Berry, IT assistant vice president. “He and I were a good team. He
was very easy to work with, and he did things in a timely fashion.”

Harrison’s departure has the potential to affect IT’s growth in the
applied research area because his replacement will be coming in without prior
personal knowledge of the projects he was working on.

“There is the chance it can slow us down,” Berry said. “A lot of
that is dictated by the opportunities that come to us and his replacement. It
takes a while to replace really good people.

“The baseline has been set in terms of the work he has done. There is basically
a road map he has set down to follow. We just might not run down the road as fast
as possible,” he said.

Harrison represents the university as it develops relationships with outside entities,
said Eileen Jennings, university council.

“We’ll look for someone to continue that kind of portfolio. That kind
of thing is a really high priority with (University President Michael Rao), and
we want to be sure to keep that momentum,” she said.

Harrison’s departure is only a temporary setback to the development of outside
research projects.

“It slows us down a little. It does slow the momentum, but we’ll be
OK, we’ll be fine,” Jennings said. “Part of it is he has worked
so extensively with Bob Berry that they kind of know what each other thinks. So
anyone that comes in will have to build the relationships to make things run smoothly.”

The search for a new assistant general council began this week, Jennings said.

“My goal is to have someone by the first of the year,” she said. “I
don’t think we’ll get anybody before January.”

Aside from going through human resources to find a candidate, CMU is taking advantage
of online technology.

We’ll advertise in a daily Michigan e-journal for lawyers. We’ll also
advertise among Michigan lawyers and among higher education lawyers with the National
Association of College and University Attorneys, which is a list serve, Jennings
said.

“We are advertising in places that are likely to attract a diverse pool of
candidates,” she said.

Harrison’s expertise and time at CMU was spent in intellectual properties
on campus, such as copy write, IT issues and research issues, Jennings said.

“They overlap, but I see them as three issues. Basically someone is going
to have to come in and be trained much the way he was. Experience in some or most
of these areas would be ideal,” she said.

“We were just drowning with work in copy write before he joined us. That
is what he started on and then he graduated into other areas of IT issues. We
want the next person to either already know copy write law or to be a very quick
study,” Jennings said. “While I am terribly sorry to loose him, I think
there are many qualified people out there that will be able to give good service.”

Harrison first began his work with IT in the SmartZone project.

“As we were developing it he was assigned to it and took to it like a duck
to water. He got very involved in the whole process,” Berry said.

His experience with IT issues of applied research led to his acceptance of the
position with the University of North Carolina.

“As my experience at Central Michigan University became more involved with
intellectual property, research and information technology, my interests in the
areas grew beyond what even I expected,” Harrison said. “My work with
the SmartZone and Dendrimer projects revealed that these were areas I wanted to
pursue further, as they provided unmatched personal and professional satisfaction.”

His interests are what led him to accept a position in North Carolina.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for me. The University of North Carolina
is basically one of the innovators in research and technology transfer. They are
part of the research triangle,” he said.

The triangle is composed of Duke, the UNC and North Carolina State. His position
will involve all 16 campuses of the university, which totals nearly 163,000 students.

The UNC Board of Governors approved his appointment Friday.

 “I dread leaving CMU because of the people I have gotten to know here.
This is some of the most satisfying work of my life,” Harrison said. “I’ll
be sending everyone a weekly weather report from beautiful Chapel Hill.”

His wife, Canada graduate student Sheryl Grant, their 3-month-old baby, a dog
and a cat will be making the trip as well.