TEXAS RESEARCH ALLIANCE
ABOUT US
Connecting Research & Innovation in Dallas-Fort Worth
Committed to Growing Research in Dallas-Fort Worth
The Texas Research Alliance was created to help businesses and government engage cutting-edge research and technology resources in North Texas. Being connected to North Texas universities, innovation start-ups and top tier tech talent, we can facilitate public-private partnerships, multi-university partnerships and capstone projects to solve business research needs.
A study conducted by the Dallas Regional Chamber showed that while North Texas companies spend $4B on research annually, only a small percent of that goes to North Texas research resources. This same study shows that while these companies prefer to work with local experts, they are not aware of how to engage the region’s resources.
To bridge this gap, the Alliance for Higher Education, whose board of directors are the presidents of the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Regional Chamber, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and Richardson Chamber of Commerce, began doing business as the Texas Research Alliance (TRA) on May 1st, 2014.
TRA’s mission is to grow research capacity and technology commercialization in North Texas by engaging industry, philanthropic, university, and state support. This growth comes from implementing programs that increase research at North Texas institutions of higher education and create economic growth and benefit.
Executive Director
Dr. Fishman has served at the organizational interface for industry, government and academia. Prior to the Texas Research Alliance, he served as Associate Vice President for Applied Research at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Fishman built the full range of high performance computing, additive and subtractive manufacturing and mechanical design and prototyping capabilities that supported both industry and faculty. At Penn State University, he held the industrial and government agency portfolios for the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL), a DoD level University Affiliated Research Center (UARC). His work covered both classified and unclassified programs with government and industry partners. Prior to his retirement and for the last six years of his tenure, Dr. Fishman served as Head of the Washington Office with responsibilities across ARL’s government and industry sponsor base. Dr. Fishman has held significant industry leadership positions in pharmaceuticals, environmental monitoring, technology transfer, and new technology development and commercialization. Dr. Fishman serves on the board of the National Defense Industrial Association. He served in the U.S. Army, separating after six years at the rank of Captain. Dr. Fishman holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.S. degree from Clemson University and an undergraduate B.S. degree from the University of Miami, Florida.
