Dedric Carter is stepping down from his role as vice chancellor for innovation and chief commercialization officer at Washington University in St. Louis to take a position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. His appointment is effective Oct. 30.
Carter has served in his current role since August 2021, elevating university efforts to advance a culture of innovation, strengthen intellectual property assets, and identify new entrepreneurial opportunities. His accomplishments include overseeing the establishment of a quick-start license for faculty startups; helping to launch CuriMeta, a real-world health data company; and launching the Needleman Program for Innovation and Commercialization. Carter also has served as a professor of practice at the McKelvey School of Engineering and at Olin Business School.
At North Carolina, Carter will serve as vice chancellor for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development and chief innovation officer.
Carter has a national reputation in academic innovation work. Before joining WashU, he served as senior adviser for strategic initiatives in the National Science Foundation director’s office and as executive secretary to the U.S. National Science Board. Nationally, Carter is a member of the Center for American Entrepreneurship board and the Lemelson Foundation international advisory board.
In 2021, Gov. Mike Parson appointed Carter chair of the Missouri Technology Corp. In the St. Louis region, he has served as a board member of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, Saint Louis Art Museum, Junior Achievement of St. Louis, Cortex, BioSTL and the Delmar Divine, among other organizations.
In addition, his wife, Ebony Boyce Carter, MD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine, has been named chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, beginning in November.
