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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate
Release Sept. 20, 2006
WASHINGTON
RESEARCH FOUNDATION ADDS THREE BOARD MEMBERS
The Washington Research Foundation
has added three new members to its board of directors.
New board members include Kent
Carlson, partner with Preston, Gates and Ellis; James Uhlir, partner
with Christenson O’Connor Johnson and Kindness PLLC, and Brooks Simpson,
president of Pacific Rim Medical Systems.
“Our new directors have all demonstrated a personal interest in and
financial support of our local research institutions,” said Ron Howell,
CEO of WRF. “Kent was our legal counsel for 13 years and this election
formalizes his many contributions and demonstrates his abiding interest
in our mission. Jim and Brooks add to our collective board expertise in
intellectual property management and medical device marketing.
Lisa Johnsen, partner with
Preston, Gates and Ellis, was elected secretary and corporate counsel.
Carlson is currently co-chair of the Washington State Bar Association’s
Corporate Act Revision Committee, past chairman and current member of
the board of trustees of Cornish College of the Arts, and a member of
the board of trustees of Pilchuck Glass School.
Uhlir was a co-founder of Immunex Corporation and in his law practice
advises investors and business start-ups. He is past president of the
Washington State Patent Law Association, Allied Arts of Seattle and the
Broadmoor Golf Club. He is currently a trustee of the Seattle Repertory
Theatre and the Seattle Opera.
Simpson founded Pacific Rim Medical Systems, a distributor of
cardiovascular devices in 1999 after his retirement from Physio-Control
Corp., where he was vice president of worldwide marketing, international
and North American sales. He is now chairman of the R. Hunter Simpson
Foundation and a general partner in Diamond Head Reef Partners, a
private investment firm. His father, W. Hunter Simpson, was a
co-founder of WRF.
Johnsen is a tax partner at Preston Gates & Ellis, where she represents
nonprofit organizations. Clients include the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the Vaccine Fund, Friends of the Nelson Mandela Foundation
and Friends of the Foundation for Community Development.
WRF is a 25-year-old
independent nonprofit foundation that captures and enhances the value of
intellectual property arising from Washington state research
institutions to support research and scholarship.
Washington Research Foundation
2815 Eastlake Avenue E. Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98102
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