Newswise — Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chairman Emeritus of the Council on Competitiveness will kick off BioParks 2011 with an opening keynote on competing in a global market.

Holliday currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Bank of America Corporation and is the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of DuPont. In his opening keynote address, Holliday will focus on the importance of public, private and university partnerships and touch on the business case for sustainable development and corporate responsibility.

The Association of University Research Parks (AURP) BioParks 2011 conference will be held in Washington, D.C. June 25-26, 2011. University research, science and biotechnology park executives will convene prior to the BIO International Convention to address the future of research parks at the headquarters of the American Institute of Architects.

Research park executives will also hear from H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of Human Genome Sciences, Dr. Moira Gunn, host of BioTech Nation on NPR and Dr. Charles F. M. Kingdon, Director of Research Park and Industry Collaboration at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

“BioParks 2011 is a power-packed program addressing research park best practices through speakers who are experts in their fields, an Architectural Showcase featuring the best in tech design and a tour of the region’s communities of innovation,” said Eileen Walker, Chief Executive Officer of AURP. “This mid-year event is a can’t-miss for innovation professionals.”

Registration for BioParks 2011 is now open. For more information, visit http://bioparks.aurp.net.

About AURP: The Association of University Research Parks is a professional association of university-related research and science parks. AURP’s mission is to foster innovation, commercialization and economic growth in a global economy through university, industry and government partnerships. For more information visit our Web site at www.aurp.net or contact Chelsea Simpson at [email protected].