SU College of Law names exec. director of Innovation Law Center

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A man who graduated from the Syracuse University (SU) College of Law in 1999 is the new executive director of the college’s Innovation Law Center (ILC).

Brian Gerling takes over the role from M. Jack Rudnick, who will remain connected with the ILC as senior advisor, the College of Law announced on Oct. 11. Rudnick is a 1973 graduate of the SU College of Law. 

Gerling brings nearly two decades of intellectual property and commercial-litigation experience to the role, the college said. He most recently served the College of Law as an adjunct professor, teaching innovation law and technology-law courses. In his new role, he will continue to teach as a member of the College of Law faculty. 

Gerling also will retain his of-counsel affiliation with Syracuse–based law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, where his practice focuses on intellectual property (IP), data privacy, emerging technology, and economic development. 

As ILC executive director, Gerling oversees the center’s applied-learning course — the Innovation Law Practicum — in which students from the College of Law and across Syracuse University gain practical skills and experience assisting companies with IP, regulatory, and market-landscape research, as well as capital sourcing, the college said.

Gerling will work with Professor Shubha Ghosh and the Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute to administer the college’s curricular program in technology commercialization law studies. He’ll also direct the New York State Science and Technology Law Center (NYSSTLC), which is a grantee of the Empire State Development´s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR). 

“As one of ILC’s brightest alums and biggest advocates — and a former student of its founder Ted Hagelin — Brian brings expertise and enthusiasm to the center. His deep and wide-ranging practice experience in IP law, and especially emerging technology, will enrich our students’ educational experiences,” Craig M. Boise, dean of the SU College of Law, said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Brian to build on Jack Rudnick’s remarkable work expanding ILC and NYSSTLC so that our students continue to get real world experience working with a wide variety of technology clients.” 

Gerling said he’s excited to join the Innovation Law Center. 

“It is an honor to direct the ILC; it has had such a profound effect on my career. It was my interest in marrying my passion for biotechnology and law that brought me to Syracuse, and Professor Hagelin left an indelible impression on me. I have used the principles and values that I learned at Syracuse Law throughout my career,” Gerling said. “To return to my alma mater in this capacity and to continue Ted’s and Jack’s legacies are both a privilege and deeply satisfying honor. I look forward to working with students interested in technology commercialization and the innovation economy and giving them the skills and practical tools they need for successful careers.”

Gerling serves on the board of the Central New York International Business Alliance and on the technology council of DeWitt–based MACNY, the Manufacturers Association, and he holds other ex-officio board positions. In addition to his law degree from the SU College of Law, Gerling holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Binghamton University. 

Rudnick became ILC’s second director in 2013. Since then, he has “dramatically” increased the number of clients served by the ILC and NYSSTLC, across green and clean tech, biotech, autonomous systems, and other industries; expanded the range of innovation-ecosystem partnerships among ILC and New York–based economic-development organizations; and helped launch graduates into careers at companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Eli Lilly, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the SU College of Law said.