USA Names Economic Development Chief

Dr. Michael Chambers, associate vice president for research and economic development at the University of South Alabama (USA), has been named the university’s chief economic development officer. Chambers previously served as chair of the Mobile Chamber board. He serves or has served as a board member on the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Foundation, the AlabamaGermany Partnership and BioAlabama. He has been at USA since 2015, and in 2021, he was appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey to the newly formed Innovate Alabama. Prior to joining USA, Chambers founded and served as president and CEO of Swift Biotech, a company developing technologies to fight cancer. He also helped found and served as CEO of InnoRx Pharmaceuticals, an ocular drug delivery company. He holds bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Alabama and earned his PhD from the University of Geneva.