DR. FOROUGH GHAHRAMANI
Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs
What makes scientific discovery great is involvement from people like Dr. Forough Ghahramani! As Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs for Edge, she works tirelessly with the research community in the state, region, and nation to deliver the resources and programs of EdgeDiscovery. As principal architect for EdgeDiscovery, Forough ensures a broad platform of support for innovation, acceleration, and engagement among researchers and other stakeholders in the scientific discovery domain. Forough’s over 25-year diversified career experience in higher education management includes previously serving as dean and department chair, program development and accreditation manager. Prior to joining academia, she held senior level engineering and management positions at Hewlett Packard and consulted to Fortune 500 companies in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, information technology, and financial services sectors. Forough is a transformational leader with experience in entrepreneurship, project management, technical sales, partnerships and strategic alliances, software engineering, bioinformatics, and organization-wide data strategy and information technology planning Forough holds a doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA in Marketing from DePaul University, MS in Computer Science from Villanova University, and BS in Mathematics with a minor in Biology from Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests include, “bioinformatics, the challenges and opportunities associated with the convergence of biotechnology and information technology”, “models for fostering diversity and inclusion in the university innovation ecosystem”. As a trailblazing woman in STEM innovator and entrepreneur, Forough is consulted on the state, national, and international levels in various capacities including STEM workforce development strategies and entrepreneurship programs for women. She has done extensive work with government, academic institutions, and professional associations to evaluate the policies and programs that shape vibrant innovation ecosystems. Forough has served in leadership roles in educational and non-profit boards, and professional associations, such as AWIS, SWE, and IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE).