Leonard E. Heller Ph.D.
Vice President, Commercialization and Economic Development, University of Kentucky
Leonard Heller brings a broad scope of experience to his current position at the University of Kentucky.
As an entrepreneur, Heller founded WTT Inc., a company that developed and marketed substance abuse tests for thoroughbred race horses. The company's success led to its acquisition by Neogen Corp., with Heller maintaining partial ownership.
As a venture capitalist, Heller was instrumental in the formation of the Bluegrass Angels, a central Kentucky venture capital fund; was chairman of the board of managers for the Bluegrass Angels Venture Fund; has been active in the Lexington Venture Club, a group of business people organized to help entrepreneurs meet potential investors.
As a state government official, Heller served two years from 1991 to 1993 under then-Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones as secretary of the Cabinet for Human Resources, where he oversaw and made policy governing six departments and 15,000 state employees.
At the university level, Heller has served as a part-time professor in UK's Martin School of Public Policy and Public Administration since 1996. From 1983 to 1986, he was vice chancellor for academic affairs at UK's Albert B. Chandler Medical Center, and from 1977 to 1983, he was assistant dean of educational development at the UK College of Medicine, where he was also as a professor of behavioral science. In addition, Heller has been on the faculties of the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan and Baylor College of Medicine, and held administrative positions at the University Of Michigan College Of Medicine.
He serves on the board of Health Kentucky, a non-profit corporation that provides free pharmaceuticals and physician visits to underprivileged Kentuckians who are not Medicaid-eligible.
Heller earned his bachelor's degree in natural sciences and education (1968), his master's degree in administration and organizational development (1970), and his doctorate in administration, organizational development, and research methodology (1972) at the University of Kansas.