Julie K. Goonewardene
Julie K. Goonewardene was elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees as its public member in November 2011 and officially began serving her four-year term in June 2012.
She is the third person ever to hold this position.
Ms. Goonewardene is the associate vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Kansas (KU). She also serves as president of the KU Center for Technology Commercialization and is a professor of practice at the KU School of Business. She is responsible for intellectual property management, company formation, industry outreach, and research relationships with nonprofit foundations for the main campus and the medical school. Her focus at KU is enhancing the university’s educational and research mission, financial outcomes and the public good. Among her many roles she also targets university-generated innovations in drug discovery and medicine, life sciences and energy.
In addition to being recognized as an expert in bringing groups together across the health care spectrum to develop solutions to medical issues, Ms. Goonewardene is an experienced entrepreneur. She co-founded and served as president of a venture-backed software company, which she sold in 2004. Previously, she was president of an information technology consulting firm and co-founder of an IT professional services firm that went public three years after its inception.
Ms. Goonewardene is a frequent speaker both nationally and internationally on entrepreneurship and an author on innovation. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Chicago Finance Exchange, and is a trustee of Springboard Enterprises, a national nonprofit venture catalyst.
Prior to her appointment at KU, Ms. Goonewardene held multiple positions at Purdue University, including director of business development at the Purdue Research Foundation and Discovery Park. While at Purdue she designed and managed the university’s first venture fund.
Ms. Goonewardene holds a Bachelor of Science with honors in general management and a Masters of Science in health communication both from Purdue University. She is married to James Wallin. They have three children, a son and twin daughters.
2012–2013
