OTT’s Rogers Retires
Karen Rogers of the NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) retired in November.
At OTT, Rogers was the chief in the Licensing Compliance and Administration Unit. She worked for the government for more than 40 years and OTT for 19 years.
Rogers began her federal career at the then-Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration as a student intern. She then moved to NIH, serving in administrative positions, including management of the NIDDK Advisory Board.
Rogers then worked as a civilian for the U.S. Air Force for 10 years, including a ground launch cruise missile base in Belgium. She returned to NIH, where she worked with the Office of Loan Repayment and Scholarship. She helped recruit the first cadre of Undergraduate Scholarship Program students. In 2005, she moved to OTT as the royalties administrator.
“I enjoy finding inefficiencies,” she said. “Guess that is why I’m so enthusiastic about developing standard operating procedures. I also get a lot of satisfaction from helping and mentoring staff in OTT and the ICs.”
Rogers wore many hats at OTT. She was acting director twice, chief of the royalties administration unit and, most recently, chief of the license compliance and administration unit. She’s most proud of working with OTT staff and the NIH Technology Transfer Community to navigate the reorganization back in 2015.
Under her leadership, OTT had a 90% collection rate on average from licensees. This success has been attributed to the “welcome package” licensees and that “we reach out to the licensee’s staff that are responsible for paying the royalties.” Many times, the negotiator is out of the picture once the license has been executed. The high collection rate is also reflective of the hard work done by the License Compliance and Administration Unit Team.
“Do the best you can to excel at the duties you are assigned for your current position, but then always be open to accepting new challenges above your grade level,” she advised.
In her retirement, she plans to spend more time with family at their cabin in West Virginia.
--Adapted from an interview with OTT’s Richelle Holnick