Ian Hart , Ph.D., Director, Industrial Initiatives

Ian received his Ph.D. in 1973 from the University of Reading in the U.K. and then spent 15 years carrying out research at the National Institute for Research in Dairying, also in the U.K. He then occupied increasingly senior positions in the Animal Health Pharmaceutical Industry (American Cyanamid Company and Pfizer) before joining the University of Connecticut in 1994 as Head of the Department of Animal Science.

In 2000 he was appointed to the interim position of Vice Provost for Research & Graduate Education and in 2002 he moved to the dual position of Associate Dean for Research & Advanced Studies in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Director of Industrial Initiatives with responsibility for establishing the University’s Technology Incubator Program.

Rita Zangari , Executive Program Director, Technology Incubation Program

Rita is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and brings to the TIP 27 years of economic development experience. Rita’s previous position was as Deputy Commissioner in the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development . In this position she was instrumental in the $100 million UBS expansion in Stamford as well as recruiting a host of new businesses to Connecticut. Rita has worked on many State initiatives supporting technology business development, including creation of the DECD Office of Bioscience, the CVG Business Plan Competition and a variety of other program development activities involving industry clusters. She is extremely experienced in planning and implementing programs that support businesses of all sizes and is well connected with the business community as well as related service providers.

Rita was honored by the Connecticut Turnaround Managers Association (TMA) with the inaugural TMA Public Service Award and was named Public Official of the Year at the 2004 Team Connecticut Economic Development Awards Rally.

Alexandra Litor-Li, Associate Director, Technology Incubation Program

Alexandra attended some of the leading universities in France, studying economics at Nanterre University, business at the École de Management de Lyon and law at La Sorbonne University in Paris, before coming to the University of Connecticut, where she received her MBA in 2006. During her business education she focused on management with focus in entrepreneurship.

Alexandra worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Paris, first as a consultant and then as a transfer pricing associate. She also worked in the risk management practice for APICIL, the top insurance company in the Rhône-Alpes region in France. At APICIL, Alexandra was in charge of developing an internal control manual to be used by the Internal Audit Department. She started as the Associate Director of the TIP in March 2007.