From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American chemist and government official
Walter Copan
is an American chemist and government official who served as the
under secretary of commerce for standards and technology
from 2017 to 2021. Prior to assuming that role, he worked as president and CEO of IP Engineering Group Corporation and as a board member of Rocky Mountain Innovation Partners.
Early life and education
[
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]
Copan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from
Western Reserve College
in 1975 and a his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from
Case Western Reserve University
in 1982.
[1]
Career
[
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]
Copan previously served as managing director of technology commercialization and partnerships at
Brookhaven National Laboratory
and as technology transfer at the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
. During his time at Brookhaven, he led a pilot program across the
United States Department of Energy
called Agreements for Commercializing Technology. The program was praised for making intellectual property agreements between businesses and government more flexible and for promoting an entrepreneurial culture.
[2]
He led
Clean Diesel Technologies
onto
NASDAQ
while serving as CTO and executive vice president. Copan also had a 28-year career with
Lubrizol
, where he was active in research, development, and business unit management.
[3]
[4]
At Lubrizol, Copan led the company's European
research and development
during the late 1980s and early 1990s, including working with countries that had recently broken away from the
Soviet Union
.
[5]
Under secretary of commerce for standards and technology
[
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]
In September 2017, Copan was nominated by President
Donald Trump
to become
under secretary of commerce for standards and technology
.
[6]
Copan's nomination was supported by the
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
.
[7]
He was confirmed unanimously by the
United States Senate
in October 2017.
At that time, Copan said his top priority in the role would be to implement the Cybersecurity Framework, a
National Institute of Standards and Technology
effort to improve network security across federal agencies and industry.
[2]
Post-government career
[
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]
As a political appointee, he left office on January 20, 2021.
[8]
[9]
In July 2021, Copan joined
Colorado School of Mines
as the Vice President of Research and Technology Transfer.
[10]
In 2022, Copan contributed to a letter to the
United States Department of Justice
signed by former federal officials of both parties that criticized the
Biden administration
's proposed policy changes for
standard-essential patents
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Copan, Walter George (1982).
Carbon-13 and Nitrogen-15 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin (NMR)
(Ph.D. thesis).
Case Western Reserve University
.
OCLC
8724955
.
ProQuest
303068070
.
- ^
a
b
Service, Robert (September 18, 2017).
"Cybersecurity and technology transfer seen as top priorities for NIST director nominee"
. Science Magazine
. Retrieved
October 9,
2017
.
- ^
"President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts"
.
whitehouse.gov
. September 12, 2017
. Retrieved
October 9,
2017
– via
National Archives
.
- ^
Martin, Nichols (September 14, 2017).
"Walter Copan Nominated NIST Director, Commerce Undersecretary for Standards & Tech"
. ExecutiveGov
. Retrieved
October 9,
2017
.
- ^
Widener, Andrea (September 14, 2017).
"Chemist nominated to lead the U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology"
. Chemical & Engineering News
. Retrieved
October 9,
2017
.
- ^
Berliner, Ben (September 13, 2017).
"Walter Copan tapped to lead NIST"
. FCW
. Retrieved
October 9,
2017
.
- ^
"UCAR statement on nomination of Walter Copan to head NIST"
. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. September 15, 2017
. Retrieved
October 9,
2017
.
- ^
"Walter Copan"
.
NIST
. November 22, 2017.
- ^
"Draft Standard-Patent Policy Draws Former Officials' Opposition"
.
news.bloomberglaw.com
. Retrieved
February 28,
2022
.
- ^
"Home"
.
Research and Technology Transfer
. Retrieved
January 5,
2023
.