Cassady aims for innovation

article by Mary Ann Albright
from Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 11, 2005

John Cassady spent nearly 40 years as a researcher, even maintaining his lab while teaching and serving as dean of the pharmacy college at Ohio State University. But accepting a position as vice president for research at Oregon State University meant finally trading in his white coat and test tubes for a suit and briefcase. Although he misses his cancer research, Cassady believes his OSU post will allow him to make an even greater impact on technology innovations and product development.

OSU's research enterprise generated a record $177 million in funding last year, the majority of which came from state and federal grants and major foundation gifts.Cassady's office at OSU supports faculty and student research projects, protects the university's intellectual property, handles patents and licensing agreements and ensures that research meets federal compliance regulations and safety and ethical guidelines.

Cassady wasn't planning on leaving his position as a professor in Ohio State's medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy department. But when a search committee asked him to apply for the OSU position, the natural products chemist couldn't resist the opportunity to transfer a major research university's laboratory findings into real-world applications.

"One of the reasons I came here was I saw this was a place that is very productive," he said. "There are some outstanding people here. It's a good environment for multi-disciplinary research."

The chance to report directly to OSU President Ed Ray, whom Cassady had worked with for six years when Ray served as Ohio State provost, also proved a powerful draw.

"I liked him," Cassady said of Ray. "I believed in his vision and his values."

The feeling appears to be mutual.

"John Cassady has the vision and leadership to help expand the research enterprise at Oregon State University," Ray said. "His experience in building relationships runs the gamut from federal agencies to private foundations to business and industry - and all are important in taking OSU research to the next level.

"He also understands the mission of a land grant institution and can articulate the intellectual, as well as fiscal, benefits that research brings to a university and the citizens of the state - and the extraordinary opportunities that it brings for students."

Cassady was also attracted to OSU by the university's strategic plan, which emphasizes development in five areas, focusing in particular on the arts and sciences, public health, natural resources and entrepreneurial development.

Cassady oversees many of the university's research centers, programs and institutes, including the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport as well as the Sea Grant and the Space Grant programs. In addition, his office provides seed money for new projects, and supports the university's core research facilities.Providing appealing salary and benefit packages that attract and retain the best faculty also is critical in helping the university achieve its research goals, he said.

One of Cassady's top priorities is "Innovation Campus," which he said will "allow multi-disciplinary teams to come together around critical research initiatives. It will create an environment that attracts corporate development." The university is working on a design for this 52-acre site, to be located south of the main campus, near Southwest Philomath Boulevard and Brooklane Drive. The proposed site includes space for offices, research centers and new businesses.

"If you want to do cutting-edge research, you need places to do it," Cassady said. Innovation Campus is an example of just such a place, he added.

"The campus will bring new knowledge, new technology, new intellectual property and ultimately new business," Cassady said. He believes it also will stimulate the local economy by attracting new corporations and creating jobs.

But large-scale facilities improvements require money, which is always a limited resource. Drawing in distinguished faculty to fill the facilities also pulls at the university's purse strings.

"Every major public institution has budget issues, including OSU," Cassady said.

So a big part of Cassady's job is to ensure OSU does all it can to attract research dollars, from both public and private sources.

According to Bob Malouf, director of Oregon Sea Grant, Cassady is off to a good start.

"I've been really impressed by how quickly he's been able to grasp extraordinarily complex programs, including Sea Grant," Malouf said. "He's very easy to work with. He's very direct, and I appreciate that."

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see also: OSU press release (12/07/04) about the hiring of John M. Cassady