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Mike Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance since 2000, will be stepping down by the end of the year.

The Georgia Research Alliance with its high-powered public-private board has led the state’s technology and innovation efforts since its founding in 1990. Cassidy joined the organization in 1993 as its fourth staff member.

“I will have been there 25 years this May. I will be 65 in November. And we will have a new governor next January,” Cassidy said in an interview. “All those forces converged, and I thought it would be a good time for a change in leadership.”

GRA’s board includes the presidents of Georgia’s public and private research universities as well as some of the top business leaders from around the state. It has helped Georgia’s universities expand their research capacity and create high-value jobs. It probably is best known for recruiting top research scientists to Georgia.

During the 2017 fiscal year, Georgia’s universities attracted a record $2.2 billion in research funding, and the state is now ranked second in the nation for university research growth supported by industry, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

The state now has 67 GRA eminent scholars in place – leading researchers in their field – and it has funding for eight more scholars. Cassidy said he expects several of those positions to be filled in the first half of the year.

Keeping Reading (Acct. Required to View): https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/01/26/georgia-research-alliance-ceo-mike-cassidy-to.html

Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle
By Maria Saporta  –  Contributing Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle