Rice University

Kerri Smith is the Managing Director of the Rice University Startup Accelerator (OwlSpark), and Associate Managing Director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. She has broad experience in developing programs and strategies that help maximize the success of technology-based startups. Her experience includes entrepreneurship, startup acceleration, educational programming, and technology licensing and commercialization. At Rice, Kerri first served as the Assistant Director of the Office of Technology Transfer, then later joined the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship where she plays a lead role in accelerating technology-based startups in the areas of energy/clean tech, life science and information technology. She received her B.S. degree from Northern Illinois University and conducted graduate studies at Texas A&M University.