[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
Mike Perham of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Elected President & Chair of the Board of the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), Inc. (LES) 2025-2026
Leaders Voted In at Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.
BOSTON, MA – October 21, 2025— A new slate of leaders has been elected for the 2025-2026 year for the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), Inc. (LES). There are two new leaders taking the helm and four new board members joining the team to help lead and grow the 60-year-old society following a vote at the annual meeting this week.
Among the leadership changes for the 2025-2026 year are:
Mike Perham, Ph.D., President: Dr. Perham has been elected President and Board Chair for 2026, succeeding into the presidency of Evelyn Chen. Dr. Perham is the Director, Janelia Innovations and Open Science at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus, overseeing tech transfer, open science initiatives, and external collaborations. He has led technology transfer and IP management functions at UTMB, the University of Virginia, Microlab Diagnostics, and HDL. He has been involved in LES since 2008, including serving as Chair of the Life Science Sector, Program Chair of the San Francisco and Chicago Annual Meetings, and Co-chair of the Membership Committee. Dr. Perham is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP), registered U.S. patent agent, and Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP). He holds a BS in Chemistry and PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from Rice University.
Mihaela Bojin, Ph.D., CLP, President-Elect: Dr. Bojin is a Senior Associate Director at the University of Iowa Research Foundation (UIRF), where she leads licensing, intellectual property strategy, and partnerships across diverse innovation sectors. She has held numerous leadership roles within LES and the global IP community, including serving on the LES Standards Development Organization Board, co-chair of the Education committee, and founder of the LES Iowa Chapter. Dr. Bojin is a Certified Licensing Professional and registered U.S. patent agent. She earned a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from Cornell University.
Michele Riley, Secretary: Michele Riley is a Senior Advisor in Stout’s Disputes, Compliance and Investigations group. Michele has a focus on intellectual property damages and valuation, and has testified regarding damages in patent, trademark and copyright infringement, as well as trade secret misappropriation cases. She is a past board member (Treasurer) of the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), and serves on the advisory board for the Accounting and Information Assurance department at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Michele holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and a BA in Physics from Emory University. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified in Financial Forensics. She is also a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Licensing Professional.
Four new board members include:
Kannan Krishnaswami, Ph.D., Director. Dr. Kannan Krishnaswami is a Senior Commercialization Manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). In this role, Kannan stewards a portfolio of technologies that includes sensors, instruments, cybersecurity, and data analytical innovations. Prior to joining PNNL, Kannan was a Lead Engineer at Tellabs, for its optical communications products, and before that an Optical Scientist at Aspen Systems performing R&D on projects funded by the Departments of Energy, Transportation and Defense. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, MA, and his MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.
Amélie Côté, JD, Director. Amélie Côté is a principal and lawyer in the Business Law sector at ROBIC and is part of the LES Emerging Leaders Group as well as the Life Sciences Group. Her practice is focused on commercial law and intellectual property law, with a notable emphasis on technology transfer and licensing. Amélie holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), a Master of Science in Biology with a major in Life Sciences and Law (M.S.V.D.) and a Juris Doctor (JD) from the Université de Sherbrooke.
Steven Ferguson, CLP, Director. Steven M. Ferguson currently serves as Special Advisor at the NIH Office of Technology Transfer, where he has worked since 1990. A former chemist at the National Cancer Institute and biotech industry product manager, Mr. Ferguson holds Master’s Degrees in Business Administration (George Washington University) and Chemistry (University of Cincinnati) as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (Case Western Reserve University).
Jack Lu, PhD, CFA, CIPP/US, Director. Dr. Lu is the founding partner and chief economist of Intellectual Property Market Advisory Partners, LLC (IPMAP), where he specializes in IP valuation, damage estimate and royalty determination for IP transactions, licensing, litigation, and corporate transactions. Jack was part of the Executive Committee that launched the Licensing Executives Society (LES) High Tech Royalty Survey in 2011. He has analyzed the Survey results and authored the economic analysis chapters for the Survey Reports since then. He currently serves as the Senior Vice President for Economic Analysis and Survey of LES USA and Canada, a position he has held since 2018. He was the recipient of the LES President’s Award in 2023, the highest honor LES can give to a member.
Together, the 16-member board of directors for LES will seek to grow the society, which represents 60 years of professional development and education for individuals and companies in intellectual property and licensing across all sectors.
LES holds its annual conference each October, where it votes on new leaders for the subsequent year. LES remains active in supporting and protecting IP, licensing, and innovation best practices, including their new ANSI-approved Standard on IP Valuation (IPV1.0-2025: Intellectual Property Valuation). LES has been an ANSI-accredited standards developer for IP-related business process standards. Their goal is to help enhance the quality, efficiency, and commercial transactions relating to intellectual property.
For more information, visit lesusacanada.org.
###
About Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), Inc. (LES):
Established in 1965, LES (USA & Canada) is one of the longest running professional societies supporting the development of members engaged in the creation, commercial development, and orderly transfer of intellectual property. LES members include business executives, lawyers, accountants, consultants, and scientists and engineers; who represent innovation-oriented enterprises of all sizes, professional services firms, universities, and government labs. LES is the largest of 43 global member societies of the Licensing Executives Society International, Inc. (LESI). For more information about LES, visit www.lesusacanada.org.
Media Contact:
communications@les.org
Get Social