Dr. Jan E. Odegard

Dr. Jan E. Odegard brings more than 30 years of experience as a technology leader, innovation architect, partnership builder, and venture advisor, investor, and mentor operating at the intersection of academia, startups, industry, and government. A frequent speaker and panelist at national conferences and industry forums, Jan is recognized as a thought leader on innovation ecosystems, technology commercialization, and the future of university-industry collaboration.

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He currently serves as Senior Advisor to LeVass Ventures, where he helps align purpose, place, and capital to develop innovation districts and partnership models that translate institutional strengths into real-world impact. He is also the Founder of 62x Ventures, where he advises and supports early-stage startups, helping founders strengthen investment readiness, refine go-to-market strategies, and build long-term value.

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Jan previously served as Executive Director of the Ion, Houston's recognized headquarters for innovation and a nationally recognized platform for inclusive innovation. At the Ion, he led a team of professionals that transformed the district by driving academic-corporate partnerships, startup programming, workforce initiatives, and community activation. Prior to that, he served concurrently as Executive Director of the Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice University and Associate Vice President for Research Computing, championing multidisciplinary research in high-performance computing, AI, data science, energy, and health technologies.

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Jan holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rice University, an M.S. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, and an Associate Degree in Engineering from Telemark College of Engineering in Norway. Fluent in English and Norwegian, he has spent his career at the frontier of what becomes possible when research, enterprise, and community align, and he brings that vision to every partnership he builds.