Julie Goonewardene

About Julie Goonewardene

Julie Goonewardene crafts a vision and turns it into results. Her unique mix of experiences as an executive, company founder, board officer, and strategic advisor in the private and public sectors informed her approach to her role at UT System. As the Senior Advisor to the Chancellor and the Chief Talent and Innovation Officer, Julie advanced key partnerships and priorities in support of the 14 institutions and the greater stakeholder community.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Purdue University, Julie built the first phase of her career in information technology, holding executive positions in both enterprise and start-up organizations and founding two successful technology firms. She shifted focus to public education to leverage her business and leadership experience to start and remake programs designed to support economic prosperity through entrepreneurship, public-private partnerships, and talent development. Julie has shared her views and experiences on research and entrepreneurship in numerous countries, at the United Nations, the National Academies of Sciences, the U.S. State Department/AAAS Global Innovation Program, and as a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

She has been an invited judge for the MacArthur Foundation and has ranked third on the Global University Venturing Powerlist. In addition, she has served as a board member for the American Medical Association and the Personalized Medical Coalition and has contributed as an active board member to a variety of private and public companies. She is a recipient of the Meritorious Public Service Medal for her work related to translational research.