Neighbour to direct intellectual property department
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 5, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 DAVE HILL/ Daily Bruin Senior Staff Andrew
Neighbour is UCLA’s new assistant vice chancellor of
research at UCLA as of April 1.
By Jennifer Reichert
Daily Bruin Contributor
Andrew Neighbour assumed the position of associate vice
chancellor of research and director of the Office of Intellectual
Property Administration on Sunday.
Neighbour will direct and expand development of UCLA’s
technology transfer program, which helps bring new technological
developments by the faculty to the public.
“We decide if (the research) has commercial value,”
Neighbour said.
Faculty members disclose the results of their research to the
Intellectual Property Department, which evaluates the commercial
value of these findings, manages its copyrights and patents, and
negotiates licenses with companies such as Cisco and Pfizer.
“Under Dr. Neighbour’s leadership, the Office of
Intellectual Property Administration will place particular emphasis
on creating new companies around innovative university technologies
to strengthen economic and business development in Southern
California,” said Vice Chancellor of Research Roberto Peccei
in a statement last month.
Although the department reviews all areas of research, Neighbour
said he wishes to focus on areas of biomedicine, engineering and
physics.
Originally from England, Neighbour said he enjoyed the English
countryside where he would watch the wildlife.
His passion for the natural world eventually led him to major in
zoology at the University of Oxford. He later received his
doctorate from the University of London and became an immunologist
and microbiologist.
“I always wanted to understand the things around
me,” Neighbour said.
Since arriving in the United States about 25 years ago, he has
worked from coast to coast, as a faculty member at the Albert
Einstein College in New York to Washington University in the
Midwest and now UCLA.
Neighbour said he hopes to make a difference with this position,
as he draws from his past experiences.
He held a position similar to the one he currently holds at
Washington University in St. Louis, Miss., prior to coming to
UCLA.
While at Washington University. Neighbour founded eight start-up
companies and tripled the revenue of licensing revenues.
He was also director and chief executive officer of a nonprofit
consortium called START Technology Partnership in Gulph Mills,
Penn. This program assisted technology transfer programs in
Philadelphia universities.
“One of the biggest projects he pulled off was a
technology fair, where he got a tremendous amount of support and
nationally renowned speakers,” Long said.
Known by colleagues in St. Louis as being deeply involved in
both university and community activities, Neighbour is also
remembered as a painter who enjoyed still-life subjects.
According to Mark Long, business development manager at
Washington University, Neighbour gave one of his paintings to his
colleagues when he left.
“He is a tremendous gain for UCLA,” Long said.
“He can wear a lot of different hats and do tremendous
things.”
Neighbour admits he was not planning on moving to L.A., but his
family was excited to leave the quiet Midwest for new
opportunities.
“I saw a new commitment from (UCLA) to expand this
program,” he said.
“This is a bigger school than St. Louis and bigger is
often better, more (exciting),” he said.
