Laura McKinney has been hired as the Oregon University System's assistant vice chancellor for industry partnerships and executive director of the Engineering and Technology Industry Council (ETIC), marking an expansion by OUS in its outreach and collaborations with business and industry.
McKinney is the former president and CEO of Galois, Inc., in Portland. She will begin at the OUS on April 22.
"As one of the primary forces in producing skilled graduates for the state, the OUS must work closely with industry to ensure that we’re meeting workforce needs now and in the future through our highly skilled graduates," said interim vice chancellor Karen Marrongelle. "Laura will help us solidify current ties and build new relationships and efforts that will ensure a stronger job market and economic competitiveness for Oregon.”
McKinney will be responsible for fostering and brokering projects and programs that link OUS academic programs with the needs of various Oregon industries, and helping expand research commercialization activities. She will work closely with OUS institutions to identify industry collaborations, including those in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields, health care, forestry and other prominent and emerging Oregon industries.
“I’m looking forward to working as a connection and action point between Oregon’s public universities and our industry sectors to ensure aligned student skills and degrees that meet work force needs,” McKinney said. “There is so much opportunity right now to strengthen Oregon’s economy with a diverse, nimble workforce undergirded by high quality OUS graduates. I’m excited to help OUS and start collaborating with industries across the state.”
McKinney was president and CEO of Portland's Galois, Inc., beginning in 2009. Galois is a computer science research company specializing in research, design and prototyping of new technologies for cyber security and safety. She was accountable for strategic direction and all operations for the 35-person company.
She served as Galois' vice president for engineering and manager of technical staff beginning in 2001. McKinney also held faculty positions in computer science at two- and four-year institutions from 1992 through 2001; was a project manager at Pacific Software Research Center from 1994 to 1996; and has worked in other software engineering positions.
She has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and master's degree in software engineering from the Oregon Graduate Institute (now part of OHSU).