Deborah Solmor will join WARF’s executive team on February 3, 2025
CONTACT:
Jeanan Yasiri Moe
Director of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs
[email protected] | (608) 960-9892
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) announced that Deborah Solmor will become WARF’s General Counsel. In her role, Deborah will provide strategic legal advice and counsel across the organization overseeing legal matters related to Board governance, tax-exempt status, investment activities, litigation, and related federal and state compliance topics. She will manage both the legal and human resource teams.
Deborah most recently served as General Counsel for Gateway Foundation Inc., a leading nonprofit organization specializing in substance use disorder treatment in both community and corrections settings. Prior to Gateway, she spent a decade serving institutions of higher education in both the nonprofit and publicly traded sectors, including five years as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at TCS Education System, a nationwide nonprofit system of colleges and universities. In these roles, she focused on advancing student success, managing complex legal and regulatory challenges, overseeing litigation, and supporting board governance. Prior to moving in-house, Deborah served as Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Chicago, where she specialized in complex commercial and consumer litigation. In 2019 and again in 2021 Deborah was included as a Crain’s Chicago Business Notable General Counsel.
“Deborah brings an exceptional and complementary skill set to this role,” says Erik Iverson, WARF’s Chief Executive Officer. “Her background serving interests in higher education and nonprofits along with her proven leadership experience is the perfect match for WARF.”
Deborah succeeds Stephanie Adamany in the role. Adamany left WARF in July.
“I am truly honored to join WARF and return to higher education, which has always been a space I’m passionate about,” says Deborah. “WARF’s mission—to transform groundbreaking innovations into solutions that change lives—is incredibly inspiring. I am excited to bring my higher education and nonprofit expertise to this role and to lead the legal and human resource functions in supporting WARF’s continued success in advancing discovery and driving impact.”
Deborah holds a Juris Doctor from the DePaul University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Northwestern University. She is the founder of Ready Set GC, a program creating community, building connections and providing professional development for women in the foundational years of their General Counsel roles.
About WARF
Celebrating a century of service in 2025, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) patents and licenses discoveries from UW-Madison research, manages an investment portfolio generated from licensing and investment proceeds, and provides annual grants to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research to support further scientific investigation and research. By driving collaborations among researchers, investors, industry and entrepreneurs, WARF commercializes innovations from campus through various initiatives. WARF Accelerator improves the commercialization potential of university intellectual property through industry engagement and investment in proof-of-concept milestones to validate market potential, demonstrate commercial value and de-risk technology. WARF Therapeutics partners with UW-Madison and Morgridge Institute researchers employing an industry-focused approach to improve the value propositions of drug candidates. WARF Ventures is an early-stage venture fund that invests in startups based on UW/WARF technologies. Learn more at warf.org.
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