Rosemary Wolson has occupied various roles in the South African technology transfer community. She joins UJ Technology and Transfer Office (UJTTO) from the CSIR, where, as Senior Intellectual Property Manager, she was responsible for managing the intellectual property portfolio to support technology transfer. Before that, she held a similar role at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and was involved in establishing a new technology transfer office and developing the research contract management function. She has also worked as a researcher at the Science and Technology Policy Research Centre at UCT. She is passionate about innovation and its potential to change lives for the better. Rosemary has a B.Sc (Hons) in Microbiology, an LLB and an MPhil (policy-focused), all from UCT.
She is currently the Vice-President for Innovation and Technology Transfer of the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA). She has been a member of the National IP Management Office Advisory Board (appointed by the Minister of Science and Technology to advise on the implementation of the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed R&D Act); a founder member and chair of the Association of University Technology Managers Developing Economies Scholarship Committee; a member of the Public Interest Intellectual Property Advisors’ Board; an advisor for a World Intellectual Property Organisation project on knowledge transfer policies and practices; a member of the NEPAD-SANBio Working Group on Intellectual Property, Indigenous Knowledge and Benefit-Sharing Guidelines; a steering committee member for the Tilburg University (Netherlands) IPRs and Development project; and a lead analyst for the Global Energy Assessment Knowledge Module on Policies for Capacity Development.
Rosemary has published in peer-reviewed publications (including book chapters and journal articles), presented on innovation topics at conferences and seminars in South Africa and internationally, and has acted as a mentor and provided training, facilitation and capacity-building. She serves by invitation as a peer reviewer for journal articles, other scholarly publications and research proposals, and an external examiner. With her experience, skills and networks, the university will progress in its goal to be an innovative entrepreneurial institution.
