Tom Thornton 
General Manager, Strategic Alliances, Cleveland Clinic

Tom leads the Innovation Alliance, a collaboration between Cleveland Clinic and MedStar Health aimed at bringing medical inventions to market. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Tom was the first President and CEO of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, the largest state-sponsored bioscience development fund in the nation. Under Tom's leadership, through June 2010, KBA investments have helped generate 1,195 new jobs; $212.6 million in capital expenditures; $86.6 million in new research funding; and $48.3 million in equity investments. KBA investments have yielded a $9.41 return to the state's economy for each $1 invested. Tom led Kansas' successful effort to site the $650 million National Bio and Agro-defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas. In 2010, Business Facilities magazine ranked Kansas as the fifth most vibrant bioscience economy in the nation.

Prior to joining the KBA, Tom was the President and CEO of the Illinois Technology Development Alliance, one of the most highly regarded technology development organizations in the country. As Senior Vice President, he also led Seattle-based Convergent Technology Group's merger and acquisition and investment banking advisory services in the greater Midwest. Earlier, he was Managing Partner of divine interVentures, a publicly-held investment fund focused on building market leading business-to-business e-commerce, Internet infrastructure and Internet-related business services. Tom received his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.