Chief Strategy Officer Association of University Research Parks Brian Darmody is CEO of the Association of University Research Parks, a leading global nonprofit that represents research parks and innovation districts in 41 states, three provinces in Canada, and 13 countries. He leads a board of members committed to creating communities of innovation around universities, federal labs, hospitals and corporations.  AURP members include anchor institutions in many federal Opportunity Zones (OZs). His immediate past position was Associate Vice President for Corporate Engagement at the University of Maryland, College Park. In a career that spans more than 35 years, he served in many roles at UMD and the University System of Maryland, including Special Assistant Vice Chancellor for Technology Development with the University System of Maryland.  At UMD he was responsible for developing business, philanthropic and entrepreneurship linkages between the University with private and government sectors at local, state, and federal levels and internationally, and developing projects and policies to support these initiatives. In his role with the University System of Maryland, he focused on improving technology commercialization across the University System of Maryland and issues supporting university-federal lab partnerships and partnerships among different sectors of higher education.