Van N. Truskett in

Van N. Truskett

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Member Board of Directors at BioCloak, Inc.
📍 Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Van N. Truskett is the Venture Discovery Director at Big Idea Ventures, where she architects venture-backable companies from frontier science, focusing on food, agriculture, and advanced materials. With a PhD from Johns Hopkins, she excels at commercializing university-originated intellectual property and previously directed technology innovation at The University of Texas at Austin.

She is passionate about creating a healthier planet by developing and scaling sustainable technologies. This is demonstrated through her board memberships at BioCloak, which replaces petroleum-based coatings, and PlantSustain, which provides large-scale biological solutions for agriculture. Van is also a dedicated philanthropist, having made planned gifts to support research at UT Austin.

Unique fact: Van is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and holds over 50 U. S. and international patents.

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Current Role
Member Board of Directors
Location
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Personality Overview

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Communication Style
Decision Approach
Work Preference

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Priorities

Topics Van cares about

Tech Commercialization
Her entire career, from UT Austin's Innovation Center to Big Idea Ventures, focuses on turning university research and intellectual property into successful, venture-backed companies.
Sustainable AgriFood
Serves on the board of BioCloak and PlantSustain, both focused on sustainable, biological solutions for agriculture, and invests in this space through Big Idea Ventures.
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Career

Work history

7-2025
Member Board of Directors
BioCloak, Inc.
7-2024 - 3-2026
Member Board of Directors (Acquired by Frontera Ag)
PlantSustain, Inc.
3-2024
Venture Discovery Director
Big Idea Ventures
9-2022 - 6-2023
Director - Technology Innovation Development
The University of Texas at Austin
6-2021
Fellow
National Academy of Inventors
In the press

Media appearances

Van Truskett's Investing Profile - Big Idea Ventures Investor. Featured in Signal (NFX)
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Van N. Truskett - Director - GFRP Fund at Big Idea Ventures. Featured in The Org
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Education
1996 - 2002
PhD
The Johns Hopkins University
1991 - 1996
BS
The University of Texas at Austin
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

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