Dedric Carter

Biography

Dedric A. Carter, PhD, MBA serves as vice chancellor for operations and technology transfer and professor of engineering practice at Washington University in St. Louis. In this role, Carter serves as the senior executive officer for many key operations functions including dining and food services, campus card services, Whittemore House, parking and transportation, summer programs and conferences, procurement and resource management, and environmental health and safety. Carter is additionally responsible for the Office of Technology Management. Carter teaches courses in systems applications to technical, business, and policy issues with an emphasis on the entrepreneurial process and new venture creation.

Prior to his present role as vice chancellor, Carter was associate provost and associate vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis. In this role, Carter served as the senior executive officer for innovation and entrepreneurship has oversight for the Office of Technology Management, the Center for Research Innovation, and the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in addition to responsibility for the campus interactions and programming with the Cortex innovation district.

Having started a venture-backed company, Carter enjoys working with students, researchers, and entrepreneurs on ideation and new venture creation. Prior to joining WashU in 2013, he served as the Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the Director at the US National Science Foundation in addition to serving as the executive secretary to the US National Science Board executive committee in Arlington, VA. Carter launched and oversaw the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program to impact the speed of basic research commercialization. He has been an Assistant Dean of Engineering at MIT and a senior principal consultant in IT strategy and management. Carter serves as the Ambassador at Large for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the McDonnell International Scholars Academy at Washington University in addition to chairing the International Travel Oversight Committee for the University.

Dedric has an undergraduate and graduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, and a PhD in Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University. Additionally, he studied as a senior executive fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is the vice-chair of Venture Café St. Louis and is a board member of the Academy of Sciences St. Louis, and the MIT School of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board. Carter serves as a board observer for the Cortex Innovation Community, is the vice-chair of the Missouri Technology Corporation, and an executive committee member of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Carter is a former trustee of MIT and the UVA School of Engineering and Applied Sciences where he served as vice-chair of the Academics Board. He was a member of the Committee on the Carnegie Mellon University experience, which was established as an advisory group to the CMU president.

Dedric and his wife Ebony B. Carter, a physician and assistant professor of maternal fetal medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University have three daughters.