Entrepreneurial, commercialization leader takes helm at Purdue Foundry

Wade Lange
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Wade Lange, an entrepreneurial and commercialization executive and Purdue alumnus, now serves as Purdue Research Foundation’s vice president and chief entrepreneurial officer, where he will provide leadership to the growth of Purdue’s entrepreneurial “ideas to impact” ecosystem model.

Central to this ecosystem and Lange’s role is the Purdue Foundry, an internationally recognized startup hub. Since its creation in 2013, the Purdue Foundry has generated more than 250 startups, nearly $400 million in funding and investments and nearly 350 new jobs.

Greg Deason, the foundation’s senior vice president for entrepreneurship and place making, said Lange’s diverse experience in corporate business development and his expertise in guiding entrepreneurs in the Foundry will create a seamless transition.

“Wade is already well-known and respected throughout the Purdue entrepreneurial ecosystem and is a natural leader with actionable results,” Deason said. “We are confident that he will move the Foundry and the extended Purdue team to the next level of entrepreneurship and commercialization with impact.”

Lange will collaborate with the foundation’s Office of Technology Commercialization, Discovery Park District, Purdue Research Park network and Purdue University to foster an environment that encourages and supports a vibrant entrepreneurial community.

Lange’s entrepreneurial and industry experience includes COO of Magnolia Therapeutics, president and CEO of university technology spin-out ImmuneWorks, president and CEO of the Indiana Health Industry Forum, and as general manager and executive vice president of West Pharmaceutical Services/Walker Clinical Evaluations. He also served as a Foundry Entrepreneur in Residence from 2016 to 2019. Lange earned a degree from the Purdue College of Pharmacy, and a master’s degree from the Krannert School of Management. Lange said he would focus on an “outsiders approach” to expand and advance Purdue’s impact through new technologies.

 “The Foundry team has done an outstanding job of creating a vibrant environment where the Purdue family are encouraged and supported in their quest to advance their discoveries and thereby impact our world. I’m very excited to join this dynamic team to expand the reach of our mission,” Lange said. “We have already a strong connection among faculty, students, alumni, administrators and our community, and I look forward to expanding the Foundry’s reach to include even more inventors, entrepreneurs, alumni, industry leaders, and economic development leaders with a focus on magnifying the global impact of Purdue’s research enterprise through entrepreneurship.”

Lange also will support the Discovery Park District, a 400-acre, $1 billion-plus purpose-driven community on the western edge of campus that will include laboratories, advanced manufacturing facilities, offices, retail shops, restaurants, housing, green space, trails and an airport with a 7,000-foot runway. The district, which is a designated opportunity zone, houses the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration, a facility designed to serve as a “front door” to companies that seek to collaborate with Purdue. Companies interested in locating in the Discovery Park District or Convergence Center should contact David Broecker, the foundation’s chief innovation and collaboration officer, at dabroecker@prf.org.

About Purdue Foundry

The Purdue Foundry is an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in the Discovery Park District whose professionals help Purdue innovators create startups. Under the leadership of Purdue Research Foundation, the Purdue Foundry received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.

Writer: Cynthia Sequin, casequin@prf.org

Sources: Wade Lange, walange@prf.org    

Greg Deason, gwdeason@prf.org