Sandra Cochrane, MBA

Sandra Cochrane, MBA, joined WMed in January 2017 as the assistant dean for the Innovation Center. In her role, Sandra coordinates and oversees all activities at the Innovation Center. Sandra came to the medical school following a nine-year stint as a technology business consultant with the Michigan Small Business Development Center. In that role, she worked closely with small businesses to grow and bring about economic impact. Over the past three years, she has counseled and coached high-tech entrepreneurs at 421 companies who went on to raise more than $100 million in capital for their new ventures. Sandra boasts a 15-year track record of business incubation and technology startup commercialization for life science firms and her work at WMed is focused on growing the Innovation Center into a hub for burgeoning life science, technology and engineering companies. The Innovation Center is a facility Sandra knows well. Prior to her work with the SBDC, she was charged by former Southwest Michigan First CEO Barry Broome with getting the center off the ground and by 2003, she was the acting CEO of what was then known as the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center. Later, she served as the facility's chief operating officer, a position she held until 2008 when she departed for the SBDC. Sandra and her family call Van Buren County home and she is a native of Ann Arbor. She is a graduate of Michigan State University where she earned a bachelor's degree in English Education in 1988 and a master's degree in Business Administration in 2001.