STARTUP NAVIGATOR - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Director of Marketing and Communications
• Director of Marketing and Communications for the Invent Penn State

Ashley Palmer serves as the director of marketing and communications for the Invent Penn State initiative, where she leads strategic communications, brand development, and marketing for programs supporting entrepreneurship, economic development, and research commercialization across the Commonwealth. She oversees messaging for more than 23 LaunchBox and Innovation Network locations and promotes signature programs including Startup Week, the Summer Founders Program, and the Venture & IP Conference. Ashley collaborates with stakeholders to elevate Invent Penn State's visibility and contributes to long-term strategy for the initiative and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. Prior to joining Penn State, Ashley held senior marketing roles in the corporate and startup sectors, including at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and OrderUp (acquired by Grubhub). She earned her bachelor's degree in Public Relations from Penn State University and actively supports university-wide innovation initiatives through storytelling and event planning.

Job Titles:

• Associate Vice President for Research and Director of the Office for Entrepreneurship

James Delattre serves as Associate Vice President for Research and Director of the Office for Entrepreneurship and Commercialization where he leads overall program development for the Invent Penn State initiative and leads commercialization strategy, resources and support for Penn State's startup pipeline and innovation space program. Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Delattre served as Vice President of Global Marketing at NanoHorizons, Inc., a Penn State nanomaterials manufacturing startup. He joined the research team at NanoHorizons as Product Development Manager in 2005 after working in the Low-k Dielectrics Group at Novellus Systems, Inc. in Santa Clara, California. Dr. Delattre earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on processes for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from semiconductor manufacturing and the development of new synthetic techniques for the solid state. He completed postdoctoral work investigating the plasma treatment of polymers at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche at the University of Bari, Italy. He is the author of over a dozen peer reviewed scientific articles and holds several patents. Dr. Delattre received his BS with honors in Chemistry from Penn State, where he studied inorganic, high-pressure chemistry and Russian language.

Job Titles:

• Penn State President Emeritus

Job Titles:

• Penn State Senior Vice President for Research