Q&A With Anthony Licavoli – 2025 Jessica Soulliere Outstanding Service Award Recipient

11/25/2025

For his positive attitude, willingness to help others and commitment to phenomenal customer service, Anthony Licavoli was named the 2025 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.

Several colleagues shared the positive impact Anthony has made on their lives and the U-M community:

“Anthony is the kind of behind-the-scenes guy who makes sure that everything not only gets done, but gets done right. Under his leadership, our compliance program reflects the highest standards seen across leading institutions. If anyone has a question about IP data, the answer is always the same: Ask Anthony. His knowledge is encyclopedic, and he shares it with patience and clarity, often making it look easy when we know it is anything but.”

“Anthony may not seek the spotlight, but he embodies the values this award is meant to honor: contributions well beyond the scope of his role, exceptional service, relentless commitment to collaboration and team success, and a positivity that comes wrapped in wit and steadiness. He makes our office better every single day, creating both the peace of mind that comes from knowing things are handled and the joy of those perfectly-timed, dry one-liners.”

“Anthony embodies the “Jessica way”, to do these things because they help, because they are the right things to do and because they are important. Without fanfare, the limelight or accolades – that my friends is the definition of service.” 

“My simple test of a nominee’s strength is always if Jessica would approve. Hands down she would be thrilled with all that Anthony has done to make Innovation Partnerships and U-M better for being here.”

We sat down with Anthony to discuss his role at Innovation Partnerships and how he felt when he received this award.

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

I started just about 4 years ago, at the very end of November 2021 when just about the entire office was still working from home every day.

What is your current role at the office?

I’m the Associate Director of Compliance and Patent Administration. I manage a team of four exceptional staff members who handle our office’s invention report intake process, sponsor compliance obligations, patent administration and data integrity initiatives. 

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

My background is in legal support with 10 years as a paralegal or team supervisor at various law firms across the country. Most of that time was spent working in intellectual property, which was the gateway for my joining Innovation Partnerships.

What do you most enjoy about working at Innovation Partnerships?

Working at Innovation Partnerships has been tremendously rewarding since it has allowed me to build new knowledge and skills on top of my previous professional experience while pursuing a worthwhile mission. I work with extraordinarily smart, capable and kind people, and we have fun doing it. I couldn’t ask for more than that.

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

It certainly was a surprise because there are so many people in the office who fit the criteria for this award. It is special to be recognized amongst so many high achieving individuals, and to be part of an exceptional group of people who have received this award before me.