Director
Joyce Burch serves as Director of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships at the University of Oklahoma. In this role, she leads initiatives that strengthen collaboration among the university, industry, and government to advance innovation, research partnerships, and regional economic growth.
Joyce was a key contributor to the coalition that secured a $35 million award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration through the Build Back Better Regional Challenge. As Co Principal Investigator for the BioProcessing Core Facility within the Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster, she helped develop the proposal that brought significant investment to Oklahoma’s life sciences ecosystem.
She also served as Program Manager for the development of the OU Executive MBA in Aerospace and Defense, working closely with leaders across the aerospace and defense sector to create a specialized curriculum for professionals in government, the military, and industry.
Program Manager
Leslie joined the Office of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships in February of 2023. Previously Leslie worked at OU for several years as the Development Director for the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences. She has spent most of her career in the non-profit and academic sectors, building corporate and community engagement for various causes.
Leslie enjoys putting her background expertise and her personal passion for supporting research growth together in this capacity.
