Oxford University Innovation announces Mairi Gibbs as new COO

By Nicky Godding

9 July 2021

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Oxford University Innovation (OUI) veteran Mairi Gibbs has replaced Adam Stoten as Chief Operating Officer.

Dr Mairi Gibbs, formerly Head of Operations at Oxford University Innovation, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer at OUI, taking the reins from the outgoing Dr Adam Stoten.

Dr Gibbs joined OUI in 2002 as a Licensing and Ventures Manager, and has gone on to become OUI’s longest-serving employee. Over her time with the company, she has also served as both a Team Leader and Operations Manager in Licensing and Ventures before becoming Head of Operations.

As COO, Dr Gibbs will be responsible for providing leadership, strategic direction and co-ordination of activities across Licensing and Ventures and Consulting Services, with IT and Facilities also reporting to her and with matrix oversight of Operations.

Before joining OUI, Mairi trained as a chemist, studying biosynthesis during her PhD at Bristol after graduating from Oxford. She then spent several years working in the fine chemicals industry, where she managed a team of chemists developing aqueous dyes for use in photorealistic printing. Mairi was a named inventor on seven patents resulting from this work. She is also a Registered Technology Transfer Practitioner.

Mairi said:“I’m fortunate to have had a wonderful career at OUI up to this point and am delighted to have been appointed COO. The Oxford ecosystem is thriving and the last year has shown the incredible global impact of Oxford’s world-leading research and expertise, so OUI’s next phase of development is bound to be exciting. I’m looking forward to working with our great team within OUI, our University colleagues and our external partners to create the next generation of impact.”

Matt Perkins, Chief Executive Officer at Oxford University Innovation, added: “Over her time with OUI, Mairi has very much become the heart and soul of the organisation. With her deep expertise in technology transfer, her understanding of the operational complexities of OUI, and her steadfast attention to detail, she is the perfect candidate for the COO role. I look forward to working in tandem with Mairi at the helm of OUI as we navigate the next stage of our evolution.”

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.