George Baxter has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, but he was not made for life in the lab. Baxter’s role is expanding the university’s traditional roles of teaching and research to include catalyzing innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship.

“To me it has always been about the doing, the impact,” Baxter said. “I’ve enjoyed science my whole life and obviously there is the fantastic intellectual stimulation of discovering new things. But what I’ve found really interests me is taking that discovery, putting it into the world and seeing it make a difference in people’s lives.”

Baxter joined UC Davis in April 2024 in the new role of chief innovation and economic development officer. A native of Scotland, he has served as a professor of research and enterprise for the University of Salford in Manchester, U.K., director of science and innovation for an economic development agency in northwest England, director of research and enterprise at the University of Nottingham, and most recently as CEO of Edinburgh Innovations Ltd., the innovation subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh. Before focusing on university and government work, he managed a number of businesses in the chemicals industry, including working for AstraZeneca.

His mandate is to rev the innovation engine for UC Davis. Aggie Square, the public-private innovation, science and technology hub now nearly complete on the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento, is at the center of his efforts.

When he first saw the Aggie Square site, he recognized an opportunity for UC Davis to be an even greater driver in the regional economy; for the region’s life sciences, agricultural technology and other innovative enterprises to have world-class room to grow; and a place for faculty, graduates, industry and students to take their novel ideas and inventions one step further. 

“Within Aggie Square there are brand-new facilities, fabulous new labs and equipment, and this ability to be working alongside colleagues that you may not have worked alongside before.” For example, he said, UC Davis labs specializing in cell and gene therapy, oncology and neurology will all be side by side in the same room for the first time. “That will allow for the casual and serendipitous meetings that spark ideas.”

Aggie Square reached a major milestone earlier this month, when the university formally gained tenant occupancy of the site. UC Davis medical and scientific research labs, Wexford Science and Technology’s Connect Labs, Baxter’s innovation team, UC Davis’ Veterinary Genetics Lab and Continuing and Professional Education — which provides workforce development and adult education — can begin to move in. Aggie Square’s grand opening is set for May 2.

Baxter cites several examples in which UC Davis is succeeding in translating research into solutions. Sage Therapeutics, based in Cambridge, Mass., licensed UC Davis technology to develop the only FDA- approved oral treatment for postpartum depression. Through funding provided by Baxter’s team, UC Davis and UC Davis Health are supporting promising faculty work on cancer, Parkinson’s disease, thermal energy storage, improved agricultural harvesting and more.

He also sees Aggie Square, which has designated 60% of space for UC Davis users and 40% for companies and startups, as a needed resource to develop a more stable, self-sustaining technology sector in the region.

“What Aggie Square says to me is ambition, boldness, confidence and trust,” he said. “Trust in the faculty, trust in the people on my team, trust in the students, trust in the city of Sacramento to keep growing. If you are ambitious and bold, we can match that.”