Judith A. Sheft is the associate vice president of technology development at New Jersey Institute of Technology, where she is responsible for managing the university’s Office of Technology Transfer and Development and develops programs and policies focusing on patent creation, intellectual property valuation, strategic use and protection of IP assets. She is also involved with entrepreneurship and economic development in the Newark Innovation Zone, having responsibilities for management of the university’s high technology business accelerator/incubator, the Enterprise Development Center, and the Defense Technical Procurement Center.  She is a member of the New Jersey Israel Commission.

Previously, she had been a founding member of Licenz Group, an IP consulting firm that focuses on assisting companies to maximize the value of their IP portfolio. Prior to that she had worked as the intellectual property and compliance vice president for Agere Systems, the semiconductor subsidiary of Lucent Technologies. In that capacity she had profit and loss responsibility for Agere’s patent and technology licensing business. She was involved in the allocation of intellectual property assets during the AT&T trivestiture and is experienced in assessing patent portfolios and has provided IP guidance to many of the high technology M&A and divestiture activities at AT&T and Lucent.

Sheft has extensive business development experience outside the U.S.  She played a lead role in negotiating a long-term alliance between Lucent/Agere and NEC in the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, an alliance that has lasted more a decade and is a prime example of collaboration between competitors. She also was involved with the planning and negotiating of manufacturing outsourcing relationships agreements involving technology transfer and cooperative development activities.  She has negotiated product development and marketing agreements with companies based in Japan, PRC and Europe. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of intellectual property and strategic alliances and is an active member of the Licensing Executive’s Society.

In 2009, Sheft received NJIT's Excellence in Service Award, which is presented annually in recognition of a sustained record of contributions that have enhanced the reputation of NJIT.

Sheft holds BS and MS degrees in mathematics from the University of Illinois and an MBA in international business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Last update: February 12, 2010