CONTACT: Benjamin Miller, (608) 263-5357, ben.miller@wisc.edu
MADISON – Amy Achter has been hired to lead UW-Madison’s new Office of Business Engagement as managing director. Achter will join the university in August.
“Amy brings to the position a deep understanding of what it takes to build and expand partnerships with companies looking to engage with the UW to support their strategic vision,” says Assistant Vice Chancellor for Government and Corporate Affairs Benjamin Miller. “Partnering with companies is one way our university is working to spur innovation and drive Wisconsin’s economy.”
Since 2016, Achter worked as director of partner development for The Nature’s Bounty Co., a New York-based manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements.
Previously, Achter worked for two companies that have long histories of collaboration with UW-Madison: the Oscar Mayer division of Kraft Foods, including a four-year stint at the company’s former Madison location, where she managed external technology development; and Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Achter says she is eager to return to Madison and work with Wisconsin businesses to implement new growth strategies and facilitate innovation.
“Leading the new Office of Business Engagement gives me the unique opportunity to apply the experience and expertise I have gained leading partnerships from the industry side to UW and making us the partner of choice for industry to work with,” Achter says.
Since 2003, the Office of Corporate Relations has served as UW-Madison’s central campus liaison to business and industry partners, helping them connect with schools, colleges and other units on campus. With Achter’s hire, OCR will transition to the Office of Business Engagement, a new organization structure that integrates the corporate development function of the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association’s Corporate and Foundation Relations unit and creates a hub for campuswide business partnership coordination that will seek to create shared value by fostering mutually beneficial relationships between industry and UW-Madison.
“We expect this new structure to better assist companies seeking to partner with and invest in our campus by creating a single central campus entity that can assist them and connect them with our researchers, students and programs within our schools and colleges,” Miller says.