Aileen Dingus

Aileen has an extensive background in both the private sector and in higher education. She held several positions at the University of Kansas, including Assistant to the Director of the Higuchi Bioscience Center, where she worked with scientists, students, professors and visiting lecturers from a diverse set of fields. She was Program Coordinator for KU Recycling, supervising a team of students and full-time employees who collected and processed over 80,000 lbs. of material each month. Finally, she moved to Facilities Zone Administration, and wrangled the teams that maintained all buildings on campus.  Since moving to Tucson and working with Tech Launch Arizona, Aileen has managed the NSF I-Corps Site program for the University, shepherding over one hundred teams through the program to date.  She also developed the Claim Your Seat at the Table program, which aims to provide women researchers and inventors throughout the UAZ community the tools they need to commercialize their inventions and make an impact outside of academia.  Besides her activities with TLA, Aileen is a Tucson Public Voices alumna, Chair of the Arizona Tech Council Women in the Workforce committee, Co-Chair for the AUTM Diversity Special Interest Group, Marketing and Logistics "Swim Lane" Lead for the University of Arizona's inaugural Diversity Symposium, and is a member of the NOLA Chorus Girls.  Aileen earned her Master of Science in Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona.