Penn State Startup Week 2026

Andrew Read is a scientific leader and innovator dedicated to advancing discovery and translating research into real-world impact. He serves as Senior Vice President for Research at Pennsylvania State University, where he is a member of the President’s Council and the principal academic and administrative officer for the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research, overseeing and supporting the full breadth of the University’s research enterprise.

A distinguished scholar, Read has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, 30 book chapters, and four edited volumes. His contributions to science have been recognized with fellowships from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Institute of Advanced Studies in Berlin, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology, the Royal Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Appointed Senior Vice President for Research in 2024, Read holds the rank of Evan Pugh University Professor of Biology and Entomology and previously served as Eberly Professor of Biotechnology. He directed the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences from 2019 to 2023, where he relaunched the Huck Innovative and Transformative Seed Fund to support bold, high-risk, high-reward research.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Read mobilized researchers across the University to respond rapidly to emerging challenges, leading internal funding initiatives that catalyzed major external investments and corporate partnerships to accelerate technology development and deployment.