Board of Advisors

The Institute for Innovation Board of Advisors stay abreast of the services provided by the three clinics and recommend improvements as well as ways to make the clinical experience more meaningful, impactful, and enlightening for students and constituents. Advisers also assist with programming, networking, and partnership building.

  • Jeffrey A. Allred ’80, Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
  • Gardner Altman, Jr. ’71, Legal and Business Consultant
  • Delores Bailey, Executive Director, EmPOWERment, Inc.
  • Bernard Bell, Executive Director, Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship
  • Mary Boney Denison ’81, Retired US Commissioner of Trademarks, USPTO
  • Martin H. Brinkley ’92 (ex-officio), Dean, UNC School of Law
  • Patricia Brown ’86, SVP and General Counsel, SAS
  • Lisa Chang, Director of Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization, Poole College of Management, NC State
  • Zach Corenblum 2L (ex-officio), President 2020-2021, Entrepreneurial Law Association
  • Aaron Fadden ‘22, Associate, Williams Mullen
  • Brian Gamsey ’18 (ex-officio), Associate, Morris, Manning, & Martin LLP
  • Aaron Gard ‘97, Executive Director, Institute for Innovation, UNC School of Law
  • Vickie Gibbs, Executive Director, Entrepreneurship Center, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
  • Burton “Buck” Goldstein ’76, Entrepreneur in Residence, Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship
  • Nicholas Haigh ’19 (ex-officio), Associate, Carolina Angel Network
  • Raina S. Haque ’12, Principal, Erdos IP Law
  • Ward Hendon Jr., ’96, Founder, Axiom
  • Thomas A. Kelley, III ‘99, James Dickson Phillips, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Community Development Law Clinic, UNC School of Law
  • Clifton B. Knight ’74, General Counsel, Bookspan LLP
  • Dustin Marlan, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Intellectual Property Clinic, UNC School of Law
  • Merrill M. Mason ’86, Partner, Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell and Jernigan, LLP
  • Bryan McGann ’01, Director, Start-Up Ventures Clinic, Duke Law
  • Raj Narayan, Associate Director, Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science, NC State
  • Gary Nelson, Director, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, UNC School of Social Work
  • Bentley J. Olive ’00, Founder, Olive Patent Law Group
  • Christopher K. Porter ’98, Attorney, Forrest Firm
  • Larry E. Robbins ’79, Partner, Wyrick Robbins
  • Lewis Sheats, Assistant Vice Provost, Entrepreneurship, NC State
  • Alisa Watson-Mebane, Institute for Innovation Director of Business Operations, UNC School of Law
  • Marjorie S. White, Clinical Professor of Law, and Director of the Startup NC Law Clinic, UNC School of Law