WRF Press Releases

September 21, 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