After completing his degrees at OSU, Niels Reimers served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, and worked for two Silicon Valley companies before joining Stanford University in 1968. He founded the Stanford University Office of Technology Licensing, using a marketing model in contrast to the legal or administrative model used by most universities.

During the 22 years he managed the program at Stanford, he was loaned to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to reform its program, and to the University of California, Berkeley to found its program. After retiring from Stanford in 1991, he founded the licensing program at the University of California, San Francisco and managed it from 1996-98. His best known achievement is the recombinant DNA licensing program.

He was president of the Licensing Executives Society and first recipient of their Award of Honor. He now serves as a consultant, advising universities around the world planning to open or operate their own technology transfer offices.

Degrees

• BS, BA ME 1956 - MIME