Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer Executive Director Wesley Blakeslee Announces Retirement

Wesley D. Blakeslee, executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Technology Transfer Office since 2006, is set to retire at the end of July 2014. The announcement was made via email to the School of Medicine faculty by Christy Wyskiel, senior adviser to the president for enterprise development, and Landon S. King, executive vice dean for Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Under Blakeslee’s leadership, the Technology Transfer Office grew to a team of more than 50 professionals dedicated to working with Johns Hopkins researchers and inventors. The office’s responsibilities include licensing, patenting, and commercializing the intellectual property generated by university faculty.

Wyskiel and King highlighted the office’s achievements during Blakeslee’s tenure, noting record levels in invention disclosures, licensing agreements, revenue, and start-up companies. They also emphasized significant improvements in service to faculty members, expressing gratitude for Blakeslee’s leadership and 15 years of dedicated service to Johns Hopkins University.

Blakeslee joined Johns Hopkins in 1999 as associate general counsel. In this role, he managed legal issues related to intellectual property, technology licensing, sponsored research agreements, and export and import controls. He was appointed executive director of the Technology Transfer Office in 2006.

Prior to his career at Johns Hopkins, Blakeslee spent 15 years as chief executive officer of Blakeslee, Wallace and Associates, where his legal practice focused on technology development, acquisitions, and licensing. Before entering law, he was an engineering manager at NASA, overseeing a software design, development, and implementation group.

Blakeslee holds an engineering degree from Pennsylvania State University, earned in 1969, and a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore, obtained in 1976.

Following Blakeslee’s retirement, Jill Uhl, director of intellectual property, will assume responsibility for intellectual property management and licensing matters. The university has announced it will conduct a search for a new executive director of the Technology Transfer Office.

Those interested in receiving an invitation to a retirement party honoring Blakeslee’s contributions to Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine are encouraged to send their contact information to JHTT-Communications@jhu.edu.