Dr. Carlson is the Senior Technology Advisor to CATI, a unique technology transfer center, which uses strategic licensing as a development strategy.
During his industrial career, Dr. Carlson led development teams which introduced over 70 new chemical specialty products worldwide. He was a member of S. C. Johnson's worldwide R&D executive committee and led three of Johnson's four R&D divisions, responsible for products such as EdgeŽ, PledgeŽ, RaidŽ, and OFF!Ž as well as a products in the food and drug categories, including AveenoŽ brands. Dr. Carlson has had budget responsibility exceeding $24 million, led scientific staffs from 3 to 130 individuals, and spent 3 years in Shanghai leading Johnson's Asian laboratories. He was the CTO of Rydelle Laboratories, a Johnson subsidiary. Earlier, Dr. Carlson was an Associate Consultant in Gastroenterology and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at the Mayo Clinic. A graduate of Indiana University and the University of North Carolina, his professional publications include papers in Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology, the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and the Journal of Organic Chemistry. Dr. Carlson's outside interests include metalworking and programming. He is also a volunteer with SCOREŽ, providing business consulting to small and start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, and a member of the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Chemical Society, AAAS, and other scientific organizations and honoraries including Sixma Xi and Rho Chi.
Dr. Carlson is also a member of the NASA Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center (GLITeC) Board of Advisors, and a mentor for the Tech2020 incubator in Oak Ridge. He is an invited lecturer at the University of Tennessee in the Law School and the Engineering MS/MBA program.