PHILADELPHIA  Les Hudson has been named vice provost for strategic initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, Provost Robert L. Barchi announced today.

Effective June 15, Hudson joins Penn from Pharmacia Corporation, where he has most recently served as group vice president and general manager of a billion-dollar worldwide ophthalmology franchise.

Hudson will guide Penns technology-transfer and entrepreneurial initiatives as well as university corporate relations. He will integrate Penns involvement in regional economic-development initiatives, develop a cohesive approach to commercialization and oversee Penns Center for Technology Transfer and its new Office of Corporate and Industrial Relations.

President Judith Rodin and I are delighted that Les will be joining us in this critical position, Barchi said. He has an excellent track record of picking top-notch people, identifying innovative research in emerging technologies and identifying and developing successful new products. Les is the ideal candidate to help Penn develop an overall strategy in these critical areas by aligning our efforts with those of our faculty, making the best use of the intellectual property our faculty create and spurring additional economic development in the region.

Hudson has successfully led research-and-development activities at two major pharmaceutical companies, Pharmacia and Glaxo Wellcome, as well as at Repligen Corporation, a Massachusetts-based biotech company. Hudson also brings academic experience to the Penn post, having served as professor of immunology at St. Georges Hospital Medical School in London from 1979 to 1988 and as a visiting scientist at Harvard Medical School from 1994 to 1995.

Im very excited to be joining the university thats on the move, Hudson said. Becoming a part of Penns senior management team just now is thrilling. I look forward to applying my professional experience to the vice provost position and to helping Penn build on its innumerable strengths, both commercially and intellectually.

Hudson received his B.S. in 1968 and Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of London. He has published more than 80 papers, books and review articles on immunology, cancer, cell biology and e-business. He is also a frequent contributor to the plenary sessions of national and international meetings.

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