William Vizuete, a professor of environmental sciences and engineering, has begun a two-year term as the Gillings School of Global Public Health's first innovation strategy advisor.
Vizuete first stepped into his role on Oct. 1, with the school's communications team announcing his new position on Oct. 29. As innovation strategy advisor, he represents the school’s commitment to building a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship and translation for an impact on public health.
Vizuete said he has been a faculty member at UNC for almost 20 years, during which he has also started and partially owned multiple companies. Vizuete also leads a research group at UNC where he focuses primarily on climate change and air pollution mortality.
“Everything I do, I try to do for impact, and this was an opportunity to kind of translate a lot of folks’ research into real world impact,” Vizuete said.
During his term, Vizuete will focus on connecting students, staff and faculty through research, entrepreneurship and commercialization. He said that students are often more eager than faculty doing entrepreneurial activities, so they may drive more entrepreneurial ideas forward.
"I think, in the end, the value proposition in all of this is impact," he said. "Do you want your stuff to have an impact on the world?"
During his term, Vizuete will work alongside Anne Glauber, the school’s associate director of innovation, and Donald Holzworth, the school's entrepreneur in residence, to discuss solutions for some of the challenges regarding public health.
“I bring a business perspective from the outside world as a serial entrepreneur, and Dr. Vizuete, you know, as a faculty member, who has himself worked on the entrepreneurship journey, he brings immediate a great example for other faculty and immediate credibility to other faculty who have similar ideas,” Holzworth said.
Vizuete, he said, is a good representative from the school's faculty who has brought research into practice, which he said was one of the dean’s highest priorities.
