Ted McAleer

by Les Roka

Even as a ninth grader in Philadelphia, Ted McAleer thought the United States Military Academy at West Point would be the right place to pursue his interests in science and to build those leadership and service character traits his parents always emphasized.

Later, in 1987, as a 22-year-old second lieutenant, the engineering management graduate quickly realized how the do-or-die leadership culture of the military would help him navigate the relentless grind of the business world.

“There was no better proving ground to get the right type of inspiration as the right type of leader than West Point,” McAleer says.

Not only did he earn a master’s degree in engineering at the University of Virginia, McAleer decided the Harvard Business School would be the right place to hone his business-building skills, and he earned his MBA there in 1999.

After coming to Utah, McAleer knew what steps were necessary to drive an innovation-based economy. “I quickly understood how the entrepreneurial drive is nurtured in people’s cultural instincts and ethos as well as an ecosystem of economic development that values innovation at every level,” he says.

He was senior director for implementation at Campus Pipeline, which, among other things, has helped more than 100 colleges and universities around the world bring their campus communications, academic resources and administrative services easily under a single online umbrella. He also was chief operating officer for Teleoptic Digital Imaging.

For McAleer, the transition from the University of Utah’s Technology Venture Development organization, where he started in 2005, to the executive director post at the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR) in 2006 has been a smooth one.

With a series of short-term “victories” including a threefold increase in research funding to help augment scientists with internationally recognized research profiles who have come to Utah under the program, USTAR is moving toward its long-term goal of expanding the state’s innovation economy. “Many of our research teams that have been in place two years or less already have started generating returns on the state’s investment,” McAleer explains. “We’re still young and growing rapidly, but we’re also learning about the best ways to match business partners for commercialization.”

McAleer remains especially focused on building the next generation of talent and leadership to keep the state’s ecosystem in the sciences and advanced technology ecosystem flourishing. “I coach a lot of high school seniors who are getting ready to graduate, telling them they can meet the challenges and find the right fit in college and get a degree in science or engineering,” he explains.