AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today announced Alan Kirchhoff of Austin has been promoted to director of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF). Kirchhoff replaces longtime Perry advisor and former TETF director Mark Ellison, who left the Governor’s Office to become associate vice chancellor of economic development for the Texas A&M University System beginning Oct. 1, 2008.
“Mark has been an indispensable asset to my office, and his leadership as director of the TETF has helped transform our state’s focus on commercialization of university research. He will be an incredible asset to Texas A&M as he continues to cast a vision for a brighter future for Texas,” Gov. Perry said. “Alan is an esteemed member of our team and has been a key part of the fund’s success, and I am confident he will continue to make Texas’ investment in commercialization and research the benchmark for the nation.”
Kirchhoff has served as deputy director and chief operating officer of TETF since its inception in 2005, and has more than 15 years of experience in private sector banking, accounting and entrepreneurship. He received bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and accounting from Doane College. Kirchhoff lives in Round Rock with his wife of 16 years, Melinda, and his two daughters, Isabella, 13, and Olivia, 6.
Ellison served as founding director of TETF, and has more than 10 years of public service as director of employer initiatives for the Texas Workforce Commission and assistant commissioner of marketing and agribusiness development at the Texas Department of Agriculture when Perry was state agriculture commissioner.
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