Elizabeth Cantwell

Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell leads the Office for Research, Innovation and Impact, which includes the Corporate Engagement Program, Tech Launch Arizona, the Forge, and the UArizona research parks.

She is responsible for expanding the university’s capacity for knowledge creation and discovery; integrating efforts by faculty, students, staff and executive leaders to move inventions and technologies to the marketplace; increasing the university’s connectivity with external collaborators; spearheading industry and public partnerships; and increasing total research funding.

Dr. Cantwell joined the University of Arizona after successfully serving as the CEO of Arizona State University Research Enterprise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the university’s applied research and development. Previously she served as ASU’s vice president for research development. During her tenure in that role, annual research expenditures grew by more than $150 million to a total of $610 million.

Prior to ASU, Cantwell worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where she was director for economic development. Prior to working at LLNL, she served in strategic leadership roles at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

She has a long career in space systems engineering, from satellite development to life support systems, and sits on the National Academies Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.