Q&A With Maggie Swift – 2024 Jessica Soulliere Outstanding Service Award Recipient

3/6/2025

For her positive attitude, willingness to help others and commitment to phenomenal customer service, Maggie Swift was named the 2024 recipient of the Innovation Partnerships’ Jessica Soulliere Outstanding Service Award. The award is named for our late colleague, Jessica Soulliere, who was a trusted and valued member of Innovation Partnerships with an exceptional work ethic and commitment to service.

On Maggie’s receipt of this award, several of her colleagues shared the positive impact she has made on their lives and the lives of U-M community:

“Even though Maggie never had the chance to meet Jess, she truly embodies everything Jess stood for, and carries on her legacy so well. There is no one more deserving of this award than Maggie.” – Drew Bennett, director of software, content licensing and research partnerships

“A huge part of the reason I was so excited to join the Innovation Partnerships team was the chance to get to work with Maggie again.” – Raymond Cluckey, assistant director, corporate research alliances & corporate research support

“Maggie is the best kind of colleague you can have. She makes even the most complicated contracts simple to understand, and always does so with a smile on her face” – Eric Michielssen, Louise Ganiard Johnson professor of engineering; professor, EECS – electrical and computer engineering; associate dean for research, college of engineering

We sat down with Maggie to discuss her role at Innovation Partnerships and how she felt when she received this award.

Let’s start with the basics, how long have you been at Innovation Partnerships? 

I started at Innovation Partnerships in the first weeks of the pandemic. I have never begun a job remotely, but it was much easier to learn everyones’ names on Zoom since everyone was labeled!

What is your current role at the office?

I am the Senior Associate Director-Group Lead, Corporate Research Support / Corporate Research Alliances. Together with my team, I am responsible for streamlining sponsored research agreements with industry. 

Tell us a little bit about your background prior to Innovation Partnerships.

I have been engaged in the research enterprise in some capacity since 2016. I have had many roles during that time, including working on data privacy matters, material transfer agreements, and research tools licenses. Before joining U-M, I worked as an attorney practicing family and criminal law. 

What do you most enjoy about working at Innovation Partnerships?

The life cycle of research is quite long so it can be easy to lose track of the long-term goal in the early stages. However, now that I have worked in technology transfer for several years, many projects that I supported are beginning to come full circle. These projects have resulted in successful experiments that have been validated, derisked, and incorporated into products and processes serving to improve patient outcomes and address critical environmental and infrastructure threats. I am so pleased to be able to provide support and guidance to the world-class researchers who are tackling these problems. 

What were the emotions you felt when you found out that you were selected for the JSOSA this year?

I am so honored to have been nominated! While I never had the opportunity to meet Jess, everyone has told me about her positive spirit and effectiveness. There is something really special about knowing that my colleagues took time out of their day to write a recommendation on my behalf. I am excited that I now get to join the award committee to participate in selection next year.