Keith McGreggor Named Fulbright Specialist

Keith McGreggor, Georgia Tech professor of the practice in the School of Interactive Computing, and director of VentureLab, has been named a Fulbright Specialist, one of only nine from Georgia Tech since the program began in 2001.

The Specialist program, part of the larger Fulbright exchange offering that includes Fulbright Scholars, pairs U.S. academics and professionals with institutions abroad to share expertise, strengthen relationships, hone skills, gain international experience, and learn about other cultures.

Once accepted into the program, specialists remain on the roster for four years. During this time, they are matched with projects designed by host institutions from more than 150 countries. The placements last from two to six weeks. 

McGreggor, who is also executive director of the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps South  (Innovation Corps) and associate director of the GVU Center, listed artificial intelligence (AI) and entrepreneurship as his areas of expertise. He will work in the Republic of Ireland with Science Foundation Ireland, where he has worked for the last four years to establish an I-Corps-based training system for the foundation’s researchers for his first deployment.

As director of I-Corps South, McGreggor is a leader in entrepreneurship education. He is also an instructor with the Innovation and Technology Commercialization Professionals (ITCP) course, an international, online course offering that includes learners from Asia, Europe, and Africa.

“I’m seeking to better understand the opportunities and challenges those researchers face when trying to translate their technologies out into the world,” he said. “Further, I’m studying the complex Ireland university/industry ecosystem, to look for ways to strengthen technology transfer and commercialization.”

His Irish hosts are looking forward to McGreggor's experience as an entrepreneurship ecosystem builder.

“SFI is delighted to host Keith for five weeks, to benefit from his significant experience and expertise in the area of entrepreneurship,” said Darragh O’Neill, challenge research manager for SFI, and a colleague of McGreggor’s. “During his time in Ireland, Keith will work across teams in SFI as well as engaging with the research community in Ireland.” 

For future deployments, McGreggor has goals related to both AI and entrepreneurship. “For entrepreneurship, I want to learn and appreciate the differences between commercialization, technology transfer, and entrepreneurial education in different cultures,” McGreggor said. “For AI, I’m keenly interested in how the adoption of AI may be used to improve the human condition in different cultures, especially in areas where the overall rate of adoption of technology is considered to be low.”

He is also excited to bring back to Georgia Tech what he learns and experiences as a specialist. 

“My belief is that there are culturally universal commonalities in these challenges and opportunities, as well as important differences,” he said. “I’m looking to improve my own understanding of those so that Georgia Tech can improve its own impact in commercialization and entrepreneurship, and to increase the applicability of the entrepreneurial curricula of I-Corps and all of Georgia Tech’s entrepreneurship courses to a more equitable, more diverse, more accessible, and more inclusive worldview.”