For Release:  October 27, 2006  

Association of University Research Parks 

Elects New President and Officers for 2007

RESTON, VA – The Association of University Parks (AURP) elected Austin Beggs as president for the coming year at the organization’s annual meeting this week in Atlanta, Georgia.  Beggs is director of corporate relations at Innovation Place, a research park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

University research parks are magnets for regional and local economic growth and development. Their primary role is to promote the transfer of technology and business skills between the university and their business and industry tenants. AURP promotes the development and operations of research parks that foster innovation, commercialization and economic competitiveness in the global economy by supporting collaboration among universities, industry and government.

Joining Beggs on the AURP executive committee are first vice president J.Michael Bowman, chairman and president of the Delaware Technology Park, Newark, DE; second vice president Gregory Deason, vice president for development, Purdue Research Foundation, West Lafayette, IN; treasurer David Winwood, director of the Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.  Also, Lora Lee Martin, director, University of California MBEST Center, Marina, CA, was re-elected secretary.

In addition, new elected members of the AURP board of directors include Harold E. Strong, Jr., director of the Texas A&M University Research Park, College Station, TX; and Rick L. Weddle, president and CEO, Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, Research Triangle Park, NC.

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For more information, contact Don Elder, AURP, mediawise@att.net, 703/768-8979.