Andrew J. Maas, Louisiana State University’s associate vice 
the Outstanding Contributions to Advancing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher
Education Award at the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher
Education 2024.
This significant award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary
achievements in entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education. The Deshpande
Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education is one of the world’s
top conferences on innovation strategies in higher education.
Maas’s contributions include managing Louisiana’s successful application for the National
Science Foundation’s largest and most competitive grant, $160 million over 10 years
through its Engines program. LSU’s winning team, Future Use of Energy in Louisiana,
or FUEL, involves more than 50 public and private organizations to help Louisiana
lead the global energy transition toward more efficient carbon management and new
ways to produce and use energy.
The team’s goals include developing an inclusive, dynamic workforce and decarbonization
technologies.
“Andy’s work helped draw attention to LSU as one of the nation’s premier research
universities,” LSU President William F. Tate IV said. “The FUEL team is leveraging
the intellectual capital of the state’s best and brightest to improve the lives of
Louisiana’s residents and the world.”
At LSU, Maas oversees the Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development, which he helped
overhaul and establish into a single office in 2022. The office is responsible for
the LSU Innovation Park, LSU Small Business Development Center, LSU Office of Innovation
& Technology Commercialization, the LSU NSF I-Corps Programs, and several other programs
and initiatives that focus on establishing, developing, and growing technology-based
startups. The LSU Innovation Park currently has around 40 tenants and the LSU Office
of Innovation and Technology Commercialization is led by technology transfer veteran
Spencer Rogers.
Maas has had a significant impact on the LSU and Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Ecosystems
as he was responsible for establishing LSU first as an NSF I-Corps Site and then
as part of an eight-university regional hub. Maas and the LSU team work tirelessly
to convince LSU faculty members to view their discoveries as potential commercial
products, opportunities, and economic drivers.
“Andy’s efforts have helped set LSU apart as a leader in research and innovation,”
said Robert Twilley, LSU vice president of research and economic development. “The
increasing number of patents awarded to our faculty are bringing useful solutions
to the world while helping to draw talented faculty and students to LSU—leaders who
want to be at a university that so strongly supports discovery.”
“I would be remiss to not recognize the great support that LSU provides to our team
of amazing people that strive every day to help our faculty move their discoveries
out of the university to improve the lives of Louisiana residents and people throughout
the world. This is truly a team effort.” Maas said.
About the Deshpande Symposium
Cofounded by the Deshpande Foundation and the University of Massachusetts Lowell in
2012, the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education
brings together academics, policy planners, and practitioners to discuss best practices
in integrating entrepreneurship throughout their college and university communities.
This year marks the second year VentureWell has led the programmatic vision and operational
management of the symposium. Read more about the symposium and the awards here.
About the LSU Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development
LSU Innovation unites the university’s innovation and commercialization resources
under one office, maximizing LSU’s impact on the intellectual, economic and social
development of Louisiana and beyond. LSU Innovation is focused on establishing, developing
and growing technology-based startup companies. LSU Innovation oversees LSU Innovation
Park, a 200-acre business incubator that fosters early-stage tech companies, and the
Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization, which streamlines the process
of evaluating, protecting and licensing intellectual property created by LSU researchers.
LSU Innovation serves as the host organization for the Louisiana Small Business Development
Center (SBDC) network, which oversees all SBDC services across the state as well as
the LSU SBDC, which provides free consulting services to small businesses across the
state. LSU Innovation helps Louisiana technology companies apply for seed funding
through the federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology
Transfer grant programs. LSU Innovation educates faculty, students and the community
on entrepreneurial principles through the National Science Foundation’s Innovation
Corps (I-Corps) program, which trains innovators to consider the market opportunities
for pressing scientific questions, leading to increased funding from state and federal
grant programs as well as industry partners and licensees.
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