The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Arthur Cooper, chief executive, LSU Lift2
Arthur Cooper has been chief executive of the Louisiana State University (LSU) System Research and Technology Foundation, since 2005 and before that was executive director of the commercialisation office’s incubator Louisiana Emerging Technology Centre for just under a year.
Part of Cooper’s responsibilities include the Lift2 fund, launched in 2014 to support technology transfer across all of the system’s campuses. The fund is continuously recapitalised through licensing income and focuses on helping researchers take their inventions through the valley of death.
Lift2 provides proof-of-concept funding, investing not only in the traditional life sciences and software sectors but also supporting research emerging from other fields, such as creative industries.
Before joining LSU, Cooper was director of business retention and assistance at state government agency Louisiana Economic Development from 2001 to 2004. His career includes a 12-year stint as managing director of investment company Bell, Cooper and Hyman.
