TJ Augustine, PhD, MPP

As Vice Chancellor for Innovation at UIC, Dr. TJ Augustine leads the teams and programs that make up UIC’s innovation ecosystem. Dr. Augustine and his team work on behalf of UIC students, faculty, and staff to propel academic innovation, to enhance the use of technology in all aspects of UIC's mission, and to make entrepreneurship more accessible and drive collective impact. In addition to his administrative leadership, Dr. Augustine is also a professor in the Department of Chemistry and in the Department of Public Administration.

Dr. Augustine joined UIC after just over three years as the Associate Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation for the University of Illinois System where he was responsible for providing strategic leadership in identifying potential public-private partnerships and enhancing connections among internal and external stakeholders to foster innovation and technology commercialization.

Prior to the Department of Energy, he worked as an OSA/SPIE/AAAS Science and Technology Fellow in the office of Senator Richard Durbin, developing legislative strategies and serving as an advisor for energy and environmental policies.

Augustine is a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Emerging Leaders program. He is an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BS in Chemistry), and he earned both a Master’s in Public Policy and PhD in Chemistry at Stanford University.