NEWS | Small Business Technology Council, SBTC Executive Director Jere Glover Inducted into the Bayh-Dole Coalition Hall of Fame
- NSBA
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
Former counsel to the SBA Office of Advocacy, original author of critical small-business programs, like SBIR/STTR, and, now, exec director of SBTC, NSBA and our entire council family congratulates Mr. Glover on this honor and achievement.
JUNE 3, 2026 | This week, NSBA's Small Business Technology Council (SBTC) Executive Director Jere Glover became and inductee into the Bayh-Dole Coalition Hall of Fame at the 2026 Face of American Innovation Award Presentation.
This honor comes in recognition of Mr. Glover's critical role in passing the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980.
Despite broad bipartisan support for this landmark legislation, which passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, the policy faced resistance from President Carter's Administration, with concern the bill would not be signed during a recess and ultimately result in a pocket veto.
As Deputy Chief Counsel of the Office of Advocacy in the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Mr. Glover strongly advocated for the bill to be signed, arguing it would benefit and incentivize small businesses to work with and accept funding from the federal government.
Along with his boss, Milton Stewart, Mr. Glover elevated the issue to the White House Chief of Staff, and, thanks to their efforts, President Carter signed the Bayh-Dole Act on Dec. 12, 1980, with only one day remaining ahead of the automatic veto.
Oriented to its original purpose and legislative intent, the Bayh-Dole Act continues to rejuvenate American innovation more than 50 years since its enactment, ensuring small businesses and non-profit entities are able to keep any patents and inventions developed using federal funds.
Prior to enactment of this law, the government kept ownership of any inventions developed with federal funds, severely disincentivizing commercial development and resulting in fewer than 5 percent of federally-funded patents being commercialized.
Not long after Bayh-Dole passed, small-business IP ownership became a foundational concept for the SBIR program, which also includes protections to ensure that small businesses retain any IP and data rights that they develop.
Read more about Jere Glover and the other members of the Bayh-Dole Coalition Hall of Fame here.
