This article examines the drivers that have shaped a more proactive and entrepreneurial approach to the creation of high-technology centers through three detailed case studies of research universities: the University of California, San Diego; the University of Texas at Austin; and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Duke University in Research Triangle Park. The cases show the importance of committed leadership, the power of a mobilizing event, the influence of an organization that can effect change, the acceleration that can come from the arrival of key corporations, the value of compelling role models, the impact of financial resources, and the benefit of a tolerant mind-set. Above all, they highlight the critical importance of a research university that can serve as instigator; promoter; collaborator; and magnet for talent, technological innovation, and entrepreneurial activity.
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