Isaac T. Kohlberg will step down from his role as Harvard’s chief technology development officer at the end of 2025, concluding a 20-year tenure during which he established and expanded the office that helps Harvard affiliates commercialize their research, the University announced Thursday.
Kohlberg joined Harvard in 2005 and quickly created the Office of Technology Development to centralize the process of bringing new technologies from labs to startups.
The OTD helps researchers patent their work and spin it out into companies or seek licensing agreements with existing firms. At the office, Kohlberg oversaw the management of Harvard researchers’ intellectual property and the negotiation of research alliances with industry leaders.
The OTD provides funding grants, supports startups, and helps researchers patent their work. In the office, Kohlberg oversaw the management of Harvard researchers’ intellectual property and sought out industry funding for faculty.
Kohlberg spearheaded the creation of three accelerators — the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, Grid Accelerator, and Climate and Sustainability Translational Fund — that provide funding and business training to help scientists commercialize translational research.
He also expanded corporate partnerships at OTD, establishing relationships with companies including Amazon and the fashion labels Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. Since 2020, the office has secured almost $300 million in research funding.
“We’re constantly doing outreach programs. We give talks in the labs. We run seminar series — anything we can to try and make people aware that we’re here and we can help when they need it,” Christopher J. Petty, director of Business Development at the OTD, said in a March interview with The Crimson.
Before joining Harvard, Kohlberg previously served as vice provost of New York University and head of NYU School of Medicine’s Office of Science and Technology Administration. He was previously CEO of the Economic Corporation at Tel Aviv University and the commercial branch of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
When Kohlberg took his role at Harvard, the University was looking to expand its revenue from licensing agreements. In fiscal year 2003, Harvard brought in $24 million in licensing revenue — compared to more than $31 million at MIT and $178 million at Columbia University. Kohlberg’s hiring was widely understood as a response by administrators who feared Harvard was falling behind.
Two technology transfer offices were combined into the OTD at the start of Kohlberg’s tenure, and he swiftly hired 10 new employees. His new office focused on professionalizing Harvard’s patent-filing system, sparking connections between researchers and business-minded alumni, and securing industry funding.
Under Kohlberg, Harvard’s commercialization revenue grew to $107 million in fiscal year 2024, substantially outpacing MIT, though the numbers fluctuate year to year. But Harvard does not see licensing agreements as a way to recoup its research spending: the total remains small compared to the nearly $1.5 billion Harvard spent on research that year.
Instead, Kohlberg told The Crimson in 2016, the OTD focuses on how technology transfers can change the world for the better.
“The societal impact comes first,” he said at the time. “And when you hold this view, you hold it like a mountain.”
The OTD’s work has made a splash in industry. Since 2000, startups based on Harvard technologies have raised more than $15 billion in financing, including nearly $2.8 billion in the past three years, the University estimates.
“As I begin the next chapter of my life, I am deeply proud of all we have accomplished together,” Kohlberg said in an interview with the Harvard Gazette.
“Harvard’s community has shown what’s possible when great ideas are met with entrepreneurial spirit, smart funding, and a commitment to the public good. The next wave of discovery and impact is just beginning,” he added.
Kohlberg will remain at the University as an adviser as Harvard begins searching for his successor.
—Staff writer Sunshine Chen can be reached at sunshine.chen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @sunshine_cxn.
—Staff writer Danielle J. Im can be reached at danielle.im@thecrimson.com.
