Telecoms innovation and management veteran Bill Payne has become science and technology lead at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Bill Payne was appointed executive director for science and technology at Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the tech transfer and venture support arm of University of Chicago (UChicago), on Wednesday.
Payne will head up the centre’s efforts to facilitate greater numbers of science and tech inventions, steering its approach to both tech transfer and industry partnerships.
He joins the university after five-and-a-half years at tech consultancy Roberson and Associates as chief operating officer and vice-president for network technologies from 2014 until March 2020.
Payne’s career has focused on telecommunications. Before joining Roberson and Associates, he was the founding chief executive of location-based mobile advertising platform BroadView Communications from 2014 until 2017.
Payne spent three years in the solutions and networks arm of communications tech firm Nokia, initially as head of advanced technologies and North American chief technology officer from 2011 until 2012, before a spell as vice-president for certain mobile broadband infrastructure in 2013 and 2014.
He worked for telecoms equipment provider Motorola from 2005 until 2010, eventually becoming vice-president for systems, technologies and networks. Payne’s group was credited within Motorola for achieving the best IP development record per capita.
His other career highlights include three years managing the interactive multimedia and cable data strategies at telecoms firm AT&T from 1992 until 1995.
– Image courtesy of UChicago
