Dr. Dedric A. Carter

Dr. Dedric A. Carter is an experienced practitioner in innovation ecosystem strategy, execution, research commercialization, and technology-based economic impact creation.  Since 2023, he has served as the Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development and Chief Innovation Officer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   Dr. Carter has cabinet level responsibility for the entrepreneurship, innovation, economic development, and commercialization portfolios at the University through Innovate Carolina and the Innovate Carolina Junction (a new Hub for catalyzing innovation and accelerating entrepreneurial intention located in Chapel Hill, NC), among other oversight and engagement roles.  He teaches courses in systems applications to technical, business, and policy issues with an emphasis on the entrepreneurial process, innovation, and new venture creation.  His passion is for innovation/commercialization ecosystem development and enhancement.

Prior to his appointment, he was the Vice Chancellor for Innovation & Chief Commercialization Officer at Washington University in St. Louis with faculty appointments as professor of engineering practice at the McKelvey School of Engineering and professor of practice in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the John M. Olin School of Business.  Dr. Carter had responsibility for the entrepreneurship, innovation and commercialization portfolios at Washington University.  Dr. Carter was the founding Co-principal investigator of NSF Missouri Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM program ($5M) and principal investigator on one of 44 inaugural Type 1 NSF Engine awards ($1M, NEURO360).  During his time at Washington University, Dr. Carter launched the Needleman Program for Commercialization for advancing drug development and lay the initial foundation for the Catalyst Bioscience Hub redevelopment of the prior Goodwill complex.

Prior to joining Washington University, he served as the senior advisor for strategic initiatives in the Office of the Director at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in addition to serving as the executive secretary to the U.S. National Science Board executive committee.  At NSF, Dr. Carter launched and oversaw the NSF Innovation Corps (I Corps) program to impact the speed of basic research commercialization.

Dr. Carter became chairman of the Missouri Technology Corporation in early 2021 and served until October 2023.  He is a member of the MIT Office of Sponsored Research Visiting Committee, the MIT Corporation (Board of Trustees), and a Fellow of the Academy of Science-St. Louis.  Additionally, he is a board member of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, the Lemelson Foundation International Advisory Board, and Venturewell.  He is a steering committee member of the N.C. Collaboratory, the Institute for Convergent Science, and Eshelman Innovation.

Dr. Carter served as the commercialization subcommittee lead and member on the Small Business Administration’s Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Federal Advisory Committee, in addition to serving as a member of the National Academies ARPA-E ad-hoc evaluation committee.

Among other experiences, Dr. Carter has been a venture-backed entrepreneur and leader of industry advanced technology groups.  He has an undergraduate and graduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, and a Ph.D. in Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University.