History
WARF was founded in 1925 by Harry Steenbock, who invented the process for using ultraviolet radiation to add vitamin D to milk and other foods. Rather than leaving the invention unpatented—then the standard practice for university inventions—he patented it, worked with Quaker Oats and pharmaceutical companies to commercialize it, and used the proceeds to fund research.
WARF was established with the donations of $100 from nine alumni of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and verbal pledges from others. "The UW Board of Regents officially sanctioned the plan on June 22, 1925, and the organization's charter was filed with the Secretary of State of Wisconsin on November 14 that same year. The new agency was named the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to reflect both its governing body of UW–Madison alumni and its mission to support UW–Madison research. Funded by $900 in capital from the nine contributing alumni and with a governing body of five volunteer trustees, WARF officially opened for business." (quoted directly from WARF's website).
Since its founding, WARF has served the University of Wisconsin–Madison scientific community by patenting the discoveries of UW–Madison researchers and licensing these technologies to leading companies in Wisconsin, the United States and worldwide. In this way, WARF also facilitates the use of UW–Madison research for the maximum benefit of society. WARF distributes the income from commercial licenses to the UW–Madison, the inventors and their departments. Each year, WARF contributes over $45 million to fund additional UW–Madison research. The university refers to WARF's annual gifts as its "margin of excellence" funding. WARF currently licenses nearly 100 UW–Madison technologies each year.
As of 2008, WARF had an endowment of nearly $2.0 billion. A majority of WARF's income, around 70%, comes from Vitamin D.
While historically, WARF was only the technology transfer office for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, WARF has recently established WiSys to cater to the entire University of Wisconsin System.
Read more about this topic: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
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