PRINCETON - Key Persons
Ben Kim helps connect faculty with foundation support. He especially focuses on special projects and new opportunities. Ben was most recently VP, Strategic Development at Public Health Solutions, the country's largest public health institute. Prior to that, he oversaw foundation and government fundraising at WNET/PBS and at the Sundance Institute. Ben has an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Member of Princeton University 's Office of the Dean for Research Leadership Team
Coleen Burrus is a member of Princeton University's Office of the Dean for Research leadership team. Burrus is committed to creating a culture of innovation, bold initiative, and open communication on her team.
As the executive director of corporate engagement and foundation relations, Burrus advances the mission of the University by leading efforts to develop strategic and innovative research collaborations with external partners. Her team creates opportunities to expand and deepen industry engagement; and cultivates relationships and the exchange of ideas with foundations dedicated to research. During her time at Princeton, Burrus has been successful in broadening discussion and creating dynamic new models for interaction by convening non-traditional research partners.
Prior to Princeton, Burrus had leadership roles in both government and higher education, including at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and St. Louis County government.
Burrus has an unwavering, lifelong dedication to public service, which was reinforced when she was elected to two terms as the City of Evanston, Illinois' 9th Ward Alderman. She was appointed to and led several of the city's committees including planning, economic development, and administration and public works; and has volunteered on numerous political campaigns. Burrus has served as a board member on community-focused organizations in Missouri, Illinois and New Jersey.
Job Titles:
- Director of Special Projects
- Communications & Marketing
Dan Day, director of special projects in the Office of Communications, has served in a variety of roles at Princeton, including as director news and editorial services, assistant vice president for communications and director of operations for communications and public affairs. He is chair of the University Copyright Committee and is a member of the Trademark Committee and the Enterprise Systems Planning Group.
He joined the University in 2012 from The Modesto (California) Bee, where he was director of interactive media and audience development, and had been managing editor.
Prior to the Bee, Day spent 23 years with The Associated Press, where he worked as an executive at headquarters in New York and as a reporter, editor and manager in Trenton, New Jersey; San Francisco; Seattle; Omaha, Nebraska; and Milwaukee. He also worked as a reporter at The Daily Times of Ottawa, Illinois.
A Cleveland native, Day has an M.A. degree in journalism from Marquette University and an A.B. degree in the classics from the College of the Holy Cross. At Princeton, he is a fellow at Mathey College and with the baseball team. He teaches in the Princeton Writes program and Wintersession.
He is vice chair of the board of directors of the Princeton Federal Credit Union and a past president of the First Amendment Coalition, a California-based non-profit that advocates for freedom of speech. In his leisure time, he follows baseball, brews his own beer and takes photos of birds and other wildlife. He and his wife live in Lawrence Township with their pet guinea pig, Millard Fillmore.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor, Life Sciences
David Kimball, PhD, has over 40 years' experience in drug discovery, drug development and scientific innovation in pharma, biotech, and academia. During his career, including as Senior Vice President of Research for Rutgers University, David has played a leading role in the discovery and development of a dozen clinical compounds.
When Kimball retired from Rutgers in 2021, he was responsible for the management of $750M in research expenditures, research grants, contracts, core facilities, technology commercialization and corporate engagement. David also created the Rutgers Biomedical Research Innovation Cores (RUBRIC) group and was a Research Professor in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.
David obtained his PhD in Organic Chemistry/Chemical Biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1982 and spent the first 19 years of his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, leading drug discovery and development efforts in cardiovascular medicine and oncology. In 2001, he moved to Lexicon Pharmaceuticals in Princeton, NJ as Vice President of Chemistry and directed discovery and development chemistry efforts for Lexicon's entire clinical pipeline of small molecules. David also served as Senior Vice President of Nonclinical Research at Pharmacopeia, Inc., and Chief Scientific Officer of Hydra Biosciences, in Cambridge, MA prior to joining Rutgers in 2011.
Job Titles:
- Strategic Partnership Officer, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
David Zimmerman, a patent attorney and former physicist who has two decades of experience in transferring innovations from laboratories to the marketplace, was hired by the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in December 2021 to lead a new office: The Strategic Partnership Office. The Strategic Partnership Office works to diversify PPPL's research portfolio and expand the economic impact of the Lab. As strategic partnership officer, Zimmerman is responsible for promoting collaborations between PPPL and private industry.
With a Ph.D. in particle physics from Boston University, David Zimmerman began his career in physics research. Drawn to entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary problem-solving, he pivoted to business and eventually law, working for a technology software start-up and a consultancy in intellectual property commercialization; earning his law degree at Rutgers University School of Law-Newark; and then practicing patent and licensing law in law firm and industry settings.
Zimmerman joined the ranks of higher education when he founded and led Rutgers' first dedicated copyright licensing program. For the three years prior to joining PPPL, Zimmerman was the leader of commercialization activities at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, where his efforts set revenue records.
Job Titles:
- Strategic Research Partnerships Specialists
Before joining Princeton in 2022, Dr. Patera served as Associate Vice President at Rutgers leading a university-wide Corporate Engagement Center; she has also held corporate relations positions at Dartmouth College and Northwestern University. Sacha is co-author of "Five Essential Elements of a Successful Twenty-First Century University Corporate Relations Program" (NACRO, 2011) that has contributed to the recent transformation of university industry engagement worldwide.
Sacha brings to her work a commitment to the professional development of scientists. Her early career experience includes biomedical research, managing an interdisciplinary PhD training program, creating professional development training for graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty. As part of that, Sacha has been deeply involved in efforts to create systemic diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia (and society) for over twenty years.
Dr. Sacha Patera holds a biochemistry BS from McGill University, a chemistry PhD from Brandeis University and a business executive education certification from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.
Fun fact: Sacha will happily show pictures of the time when in 1988-90 she was part of a startup that sent protein crystallization experiments onto the Soviet Space Station MIR; Sacha was the translator and even integrated the equipment directly onto the Soyuz rocket!
An immigrant from then Czechoslovakia, Sacha is grateful for the opportunity to grow up on the ancestral lands of the Kanien'kéha Nation, in Tiohtià:ke/ Montreal. Sacha is fluent in English, French and Russian, and proficient in Czech and Spanish. Pronouns are she/her/hers. Sacha is a French spelling and pronounced ‘Sasha.'
Job Titles:
- Business Manager
- Business Manager for Corporate Engagement
Jessica Pilotti is the Business Manager for Corporate Engagement and Foundation Relations. In addition to handling all business matters for the CEFR office, Jessica oversees the proper recording of all corporate and foundation gifts to Princeton University and serves as the first point of contact for University staff who have questions about corporate or foundation giving.
Jessica previously worked at Mercer County Technical Schools and attended Mercer County Community College.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Corporate Engagement
Jessie Skinnider is the Associate Director of Corporate Engagement and Foundation Relations. In her role, she focuses on the development of Corporate Affiliate Programs. Her work facilitates strategic research collaborations between faculty and Princeton's external corporate partners.
Prior to joining the Corporate Engagement and Foundation Relations team, Jessie practiced as a lawyer at a full-service law firm in Vancouver, Canada. After obtaining her law degree from the University of British Columbia, Jessie clerked for seven justices of the British Columbia Supreme Court. She is also a graduate of the interdisciplinary Arts & Science Program at McMaster University.
Outside of the office, Jessie enjoys exploring campus and the areas surrounding Princeton University with her husband and their dog.
Job Titles:
- Stewardship, Research Funding Announcement, Prospect Research
Jill Jahn oversees stewardship activities for CEFR that help cultivate Princeton's relationships with its foundation and corporate partners. This includes drafting acknowledgement letters to select institutional donors for signature by University leadership, and managing CEFR's stewardship and reporting compliance efforts within the most significant foundation relationships. With the assistance of CEFR colleagues, Jill produces the biweekly Research Funding Announcement, a curated list of funding opportunities and related alerts that is sent to all faculty and selected University staff members. She also assists the Foundation Relations and Corporate Engagement teams with various projects, publications and events.
After earning an undergraduate degree from Princeton, Jill worked for one of the assistant deans in the Graduate School before beginning a career in non-profit development at Princeton. She subsequently worked for George Washington University, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and The Pingry School before returning to Princeton in 1998 to join CEFR. Jill served on the board of the nonprofit Princeton Adult School for twelve years.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate Director of Foundation Relations
As Senior Associate Director of Foundation Relations, Kelly works to build stronger relationships with foundations and other partners in support of faculty research and University priorities. She specializes in supporting the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as organizations central to campus life such as the Princeton University Library, Princeton University Art Museum and the Office of Religious Life.
Before joining CEFR, Kelly served as manager of corporate, foundation and government relations at the Princeton University Art Museum. Prior to coming to Princeton, she supported development efforts at the Kingsborough Community College Foundation of the City University of New York, New York University Stern School of Business, and the Bard Graduate Center. Kelly has presented with NCURA (National Council of University Research Administrators), SRAI (Society of Research Administrators International) and CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) and has served on the organizing committee for the CASE Corporate and Foundation Relations conference.
Kelly holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Stanford University and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. She lives in Princeton and recently served on the board of the Princeton Public Library Foundation.
As a CEFR engagement specialist, Maureen works to build collaborations between external partners and the faculty, centers and initiatives of the Princeton School of Engineering and Applied Science, as well as with faculty from the School of Public and International Affairs. In addition, Maureen supports the Princeton Alliance for Collaborative Research and Innovation.
Maureen joined CEFR in April 2022, after 20 years in the Princeton Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA). During her time with ORPA, she offered guidance throughout the sponsored research lifecycle to faculty and administrators from a wide range of departments. Prior to coming to Princeton, Maureen spent five years at Rutgers University as Acting Assistant Director, as well as lead for the Pre-Award Functional team, of an integrated financial systems project. Prior to that, she spent more than fifteen years managing multimillion-dollar projects as a renovation project manager for New York City construction firms.
Maureen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Arts from the New York Institute of Technology. Maureen is married and has one adult son. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, photography, and meeting new people. She is an active volunteer supporting the growth of ice hockey in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Mike supports the development of strong, balanced relationships among faculty researchers, foundations, and the University. Mike manages, and is the primary contact for Limited Submission Proposals for faculty at the University. Prior to joining CEFR, Mike worked in digital learning at multinational educational for-profits Pearson and McGraw-Hill and led U.S. operations for a developer of digital content. Mike has his M.A. in English from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his B.A. from The University of Alabama.
Job Titles:
- Research, Data and Analytics
Rajiv manages the office's Sales Cloud CRM application and other strategic information resources, as well as prospect research and analytics. He came to Princeton in 2010 from the consulting industry with extensive experience in economic, financial, and industry analysis. His prior consulting engagements included the valuation of business enterprises, equity interests and intangible assets. Rajiv has a MBA in information management and finance from Rutgers Business School, and a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) in India. He has completed the Management Development Certificate Program at Princeton and is a Salesforce Certified Administrator.
Affiliated with CEFR, Spencer represents the National Security Innovation Network, connecting Princeton's innovation community with Department of Defense needs, through programs for entrepreneurship, problem solving, internships, and hiring. Before joining NSIN, Spencer was Senior Associate Director for Princeton Corporate Engagement from 2013 to 2022, connecting faculty and industry for research collaborations in the areas of engineering and physical sciences. In his CEFR role, he was a member of the NJ Big Data Alliance and liaison to the GradFUTURES Professional Development Working Group and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. He also founded and launched the NJ Smart Cities Working Group, which he continues to coordinate.
Prior to joining CEFR, Spencer developed research collaborations in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, with a focus on biotechnology drug manufacturing, at companies including Genzyme/Sanofi and DSM. He began his career as an armor officer in the Regular Army, then served with the Army National Guard after moving to civilian life, completing 20 years of service. He holds an AB from Princeton, and an MBA from Yale. He lives in Princeton and serves on the boards of the Princeton Alumni Veterans Association (PVETS), Alumni and Friends of Princeton ROTC, and is president of the Princeton Officers Society.
Job Titles:
- Administration & Operations
- Administrative Assistant for the Corporate Engagement & Foundation Relations Office at Princeton University
- Administrative Support
Stasie Ryan-Bicek is the Administrative Assistant for the Corporate Engagement & Foundation Relations office at Princeton University. Stasie joined CEFR and Princeton in July 2022. She previously worked at Wright McLeod, Attorneys at Law, in Evans, Georgia as an Executive Assistant/Scheduling Coordinator. While working at the law office, she worked with the Georgia State Governors' office on the Certificate of Need Appeal Panel with Mr. Wright McLeod.
Stasie is in the process of finishing her Bachelor of Applied Science in business administration/office technology. She is a Southern California native, married, and has three adult children and four grandsons. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family, crafting, learning new things, and being outdoors.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Office of Technology Licensing