MADISON—Dr. Carol Dahl, a WiSys Board of Trustees member, was recently appointed to the newly created Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Federal Advisory Committee (IIEAC) at the Small Business Administration (SBA). Dahl was appointed to the committee by Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, the head of the SBA.

The IIEAC aims to strengthen the innovation system in the United States in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on commercialization and inclusivity, and the new committee will provide insight to help small businesses across the country. Additional information about the IIEAC and SBA can be found on its website.

“We are proud of Dr. Dahl’s appointment to this new committee,” said Arjun Sanga, President of WiSys. “She has brought her deep knowledge in stimulating innovation to help WiSys catalyze an innovation ecosystem throughout the Universities of Wisconsin. Her insights and knowledge will be a valuable addition to this important committee.”

Before joining the WiSys Board of Trustees in 2021, Dahl was the executive director of The Lemelson Foundation, which works to help the next generation of inventors receive the assistance they need to bring their products to life and make an impact. She was also the founding director of the Global Health Discovery Program with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has also worked at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, a startup diagnostics company, and was on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh.

In addition to her work on the WiSys Board of Trustees, Dahl is also the chair of the Nomination Evaluation Committee for the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation; a director on the boards of VentureWell, VertueLab, and the Washington Research Foundation; Chair of the Program Advisory Committee for Grand Challenges Canada; and a member of the advisory board for the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health.

WiSys is a nonprofit organization that works with faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Universities of Wisconsin to facilitate cutting-edge research programs, develop and commercialize discoveries, and foster a spirit of innovative and entrepreneurial thinking across the state.

WiSys is the lead organization for a prestigious National Science Foundation Engines Type 1 Development Award in Sustainable Agriculture. Learn more about the grant here.