Marvin Parnes is associate vice president for research at the University of Michigan. In the Office of the Vice President for Research, he shares oversight for infrastructure and administration, research administration, technology transfer, liaison with industry, and day-to-day administration of units reporting to the Vice President for Research. He coordinates “seed funding” for new scholarly projects and special needs in the research community. He has worked closely with the University of Michigan executive officers on the role and strategy of the University in regional economic development, resulting in the formation of SPARK, a partnership between universities, government, and businesses to promote innovation in the Ann Arbor area. He is the Principal Investigator of the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIIE), a statewide consortium of public universities promoting regional economic development and entrepreneurism.
Mr. Parnes serves on many committees and boards, including, the advisory board for the University of Michigan Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurship, and the Board of Directors of Fraunhofer USA. He is the past Chair and Treasurer of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and has recently served as Chair of the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), a national association of research universities based in Washington, D.C. He is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness & Economic Prosperity, and as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Deputy Director for Intramural Research, National Institutes of Health.
Marvin Parnes received his BA in English from the City College of the City University of New York and his Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan. He has been on the professional staff at UM since 1974.