Rashid Bashir, the dean of Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Dennis Beard, Managing Partner at Serra Ventures, will officially participate for the first time as newly appointed University of Illinois Research Park LLC Board of Managers in the upcoming meeting on Oct. 7.
The Research Park is governed by the Board of Managers, a public-private board that consists of nine members. It meets three times a year to discuss Research Park operations.
Its members are appointed by the U. of I. Board of Trustees. Bashir and Beard were approved by the Board of Trustees at its meeting on July 11, 2024.
Bashir is currently the dean of the Grainger College of Engineering at U. of I. He holds the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, which fosters multi- and interdisciplinary studies and serves as a springboard for pioneering projects.
Beard is a managing partner with Serra Ventures and is responsible for leadership and management within the venture capital firm. He has spent more than 20 years with the Illinois technology community and is a founding member of the university’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence program at the EnterpriseWorks incubator.
Bashir will serve as one of the two faculty representatives on the board, replacing Jeffrey Brown, who recently stepped down as dean of the Gies College of Business and went on sabbatical. Dennis Beard joins the board as a private sector representative; longtime board member Rick Stephens recently completed his final term.
