About CONNECT

Nearly 25 years ago, Richard Atkinson, David Hale, Irwin Jacobs, Dan Pegg, Lea Rudee, Mary Walshok, Bob Weaver and Buzz Woolley launched CONNECT at UC San Diego with a vision to accelerate the nascent innovation economy in San Diego. They could not possibly have imagined the success and growth of this sector 25 years later. Today San Diego is the wireless innovation capital of the world and one of the most important biotech clusters in the country.

The San Diego Union-Tribune ran a headline on March 13, 1986: “UCSD program picks Otterson / Lexocorp chairman to coordinate high-tech conferences.” Over the following 13 years, Bill Otterson and the team he and Mary Walshok built transformed CONNECT into an internationally renowned program that has now been modeled in almost 40 regions around the world. CONNECT is now widely regarded as the most successful organization of its kind.

Left to right: Irwin Jacobs - Chairman, QUALCOMM; Richard Atkinson - President Emeritus, University of California (and former Chancellor, UCSD); Lea Rudee - Founding Dean UCSD School of Engineering; Mary Walshok - Associate Vice Chancellor, Public Programs and Dean, UCSD Extension; Buzz Woolley - President, Girard Capital/Girard Foundation; David Hale - Chairman, Hale BioPharma Ventures LLC (Chair, CONNECT Board); Dan Pegg - Former President & CEO, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation

To lead the implementation of this initiative, the advisory board and founders hired Bill Otterson as the Executive Director. Through their support and his exceptional leadership, CONNECT grew into one of the most successful organizations of its kind in the world. Today, the Otterson legacy is the well-known San Diego “culture of collaboration” that he initiated as a way to quickly spread expertise in the region.

Bill died 10 years ago this year, but left a legacy in CONNECT. He created in San Diego a culture of collaboration that has become the hallmark of the local innovation economy. He brought together researchers from multiple institutions, recruited entrepreneurs, sought investors from across the country, and insisted that all of us should share our knowledge and offer our assistance where we could. He took up policy issues from the beginning of his tenure, including FDA reform, radioactive waste disposal, more engineering slots for UC San Diego and many other initiatives.

Today CONNECT is an independent non-profit organization serving the entire San Diego region. Our programs and initiatives continue to evolve in order to fulfill the original mission set out by the founders. The high tech conferences have evolved into over a dozen educational programs that resulted in over 300 events this past year. We have identified legislative issues, developed positions and taken action on policies that impact investment in early stage innovation. Over the past year we have opened access to new sources of capital, assisted in increasing the number of new businesses, and provided entrepreneur education, networking and recognition to continue building our innovation economy. Today commercialization of innovation means helping to source and expand funding for San Diego’s academic and research community; increasing access to all forms of capital for early-stage companies; supporting the development and marketing of a local contract service cluster; and effectively representing our innovation economy in Washington D.C. These are the major strategic priorities for CONNECT in the coming months and years.

I thank all of our industry partners, research affiliates and capital and service providers who have contributed so much to make the CONNECT vision a reality for our region. With your continued support, we will keep building San Diego into the world’s leading center for innovation that we know it can be.

CEO

CONNECT