Tommy Sowers to lead Carolina’s innovation ecosystem and expand partnerships with industry, entrepreneurs and economic partners

Tommy Sowers has been appointed UNC-Chapel Hill vice chancellor for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development and chief innovation officer, bringing cross-sector leadership to strengthen Carolina's innovation ecosystem. He will assume the role April 20.

Sowers will lead efforts to scale Carolina's research commercialization pipeline, expand startup formation and deepen partnerships with industry, venture capital and public-sector collaborators. His role is designed to align Carolina's innovation infrastructure, from labs to launch, into a more cohesive, high-impact system.

With experience spanning academia, building public and venture-backed companies, national security innovation, and public sector leadership, Sowers is positioned to accelerate how Carolina translates discovery into real-world solutions that drive economic growth across North Carolina and beyond.

"Tommy Sowers brings a perspective we need," said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. "Someone who's operated at scale across sectors - shaping policy at the Federal level, building companies here in North Carolina, thinking hard about the future of science and technology, and leading in combat. That is the kind of leader we are building around."

"I am honored that Chancellor Roberts has asked me to join him and the extraordinary team leading Carolina," Sowers said. "UNC has a world-class innovation ecosystem built by dedicated people, and I cannot wait to learn from and serve this team. The Chancellor's vision for making Carolina the easiest major research university in the country to do business with is bold and exactly right. North Carolina is the state, and Chapel Hill is the community my family calls home - and I can think of no greater privilege than helping our students, faculty and partners turn great ideas into real impact for the people of North Carolina."

Before joining Carolina, Sowers served as director of graduate studies and deputy director for the Duke Initiative for Science & Society. His teaching pairs interdisciplinary student teams with real-world technology challenges from organizations including the N.C. Governor's office, SAS, OpenAI and the NIH. While at Duke, he was appointed by Gov. Josh Stein to, and currently serves on, the N.C. AI Leadership Council.

Before his leadership role at Duke, Sowers was president of North Carolina-based flyExclusive, the country's third largest private jet operator. After leading flyExclusive through multiple periods of rapid growth, the company went public in 2023 and continues to be an economic driver for eastern North Carolina.

Sowers served from 2018 to 2021 as the Southeast regional director for the Department of Defense's National Security Innovation Network and Defense Innovation Unit. He led department innovation across the Southeast, bringing together dozens of research universities, entrepreneurs and venture investors to build new technology solutions for national security units.

As founder and CEO of GoldenKey, he created a technology-driven alternative to help Americans buy and sell homes without traditional real estate commissions. In three years, he led the company from conception through product launch, multiple capital raises, market expansion and eventual acquisition in 2018.

From 2012 to 2014, he served as an assistant secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs. As one of the youngest Senate-confirmed assistant secretaries in the federal government, Sowers set the department's national communications strategy and oversaw public engagement and intergovernmental relations with all 50 states, U.S. territories and tribal governments. Prior to his VA service, Sowers was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

An 11-year U.S. Army combat veteran, Sowers led a combat engineering platoon in Kosovo and deployed to Iraq twice as a Green Beret, leading and advising U.S. and Iraqi units on counterinsurgency operations. He also served as an assistant professor in the social sciences department at the United States Military Academy.

Sowers earned his undergraduate degree in public policy from Duke University and his master's and doctorate from the London School of Economics. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife, Ericka, their four girls, two dogs and currently two chickens.