NCInnovation Names Michelle Bolas President and CEO After a National Search
Today, the NCInnovation Board of Directors unanimously voted to appointed Michaelle Bolas as the Chief Executive Officer, after the conclusion of a national search.
Bolas served as the Acting President and CEO since December 2025. After a four-month national process the Board selected Bolas for her deep understanding of NCInnovation’s model, her experience advancing research commercialization across North Carolina’s public university, and her ability to steward the organization’s state endowment to deliver long-term economic impact.
“Michelle stood out in a search that brought forward exceptional candidates from across the nation,” said Kelly King, Chair of the NCInnovation Board of Directors. “She understands the purpose behind NCInnovation — to help more discoveries coming out of our public universities become companies, jobs, and economic opportunity across North Carolina. Just as importantly, she understands the responsibility that comes with stewarding the state’s endowment to achieve those outcomes. The Board has full confidence in her leadership as NCInnovation continues building a nationally significant model for research commercialization.”
Michelle Bolas said following her appointment, “What gives me the most confidence in where we’re headed is the strength of this team and the partnerships we’ve built across the state. We have a clear opportunity to demonstrate that the discoveries coming out of our public universities can translate into companies, jobs, and long-term economic value for North Carolina. That’s the work in front of us, and I’m committed to building on the foundation this team has already put in place.”
Under her leadership, NCInnovation has announced projects at UNC Asheville and Western Carolina University, bringing innovation to Western North Carolina. Bolas joined NCInnovation in 2023 after more than a decade advancing innovation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she served as Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of Innovate Carolina, leading the university’s innovation strategy and expanding efforts in technology commercialization, venture creation, and industry partnerships. She brings more than 25 years of experience advancing innovation across higher education, industry and government.
What They Are Saying:
“At UNC Charlotte, we are deeply committed to expanding our research enterprise and strengthening a culture of innovation across campus,” said Sharon L. Gaber, Chancellor of UNC Charlotte. “Michelle is helping accelerate that momentum by advancing a model that creates clearer pathways for faculty discoveries to move beyond the university and into the marketplace. Partnerships like this help ensure the breakthroughs happening on our campus can deliver real benefits for communities across North Carolina.”
“Universities have a responsibility not only to generate new knowledge, but to ensure that knowledge benefits the communities we serve,” said Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr., Chancellor of UNC Greensboro. “NCInnovation is creating new pathways for the work of our faculty to move beyond the campus and into real-world solutions that improve lives and strengthen North Carolina’s economy. Michelle understands the broader purpose of this work, and I’m confident her leadership will help expand the impact universities can have across our state.”
“North Carolina’s ability to attract and grow leading companies depends on the strength of our innovation ecosystem,” said Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC). “NCInnovation complements the work of EDPNC by helping more university discoveries move toward commercialization, which strengthens the technology clusters companies look for when deciding where to invest and expand. Under Michelle’s leadership, NCInnovation is well positioned to continue building that pipeline.”
