Scott Levitan was hired in August 2017 to lead the Research Triangle Foundation as its CEO & President. He has over 30 years of experience working in mixed-use development, with an emphasis on university-related research parks.
Under his leadership, RTP has entered a new era of transformation while enhancing its reputation as the anchor for innovation in the Triangle Region. In 2021, RTP achieved a record breaking year of investments and jobs announced, welcoming Apple, Eli Lilly, and Beam Therapeutics. Today, RTP continues to lead the transformation of the research park community in North America with the acceleration of startup community, Frontier RTP, the launch of experiential shipping container retail venue, Boxyard RTP, and the development of today’s $1.5 billion downtown, Hub RTP. In 2021, Scott received a CEO of the Year & C-Suite Award from the Triangle Business Journal.
Prior to his current role, Scott was the Vice President of Forest City Realty Trust and Development Director for the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins and the New East Baltimore Community. He oversaw a $1.5 billion initiative directly adjacent to The Johns Hopkins University medical campus that includes life science research and office space, residential, retail, a new public park and a community school. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of Real Estate Development for Georgia Institute of Technology, where he oversaw all real estate planning and development activities for the Institute. During his tenure, he oversaw the development of Technology Square, a 1.6 million-square-foot institutionally sponsored but privatized development initiative in Midtown Atlanta. From 1989-2001, Scott held various roles at Harvard University including Director of University and Commercial Real Estate.
Scott holds a masters degree in urban design from Harvard University, a masters in conservation studies from the University of York in York, England, and a bachelors in architecture from Louisiana State University. He is active and has served in a number of real estate and economic development organizations, including the Association of University Research Parks, Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Durham Chamber of Commerce, Carolina Chamber for Chapel Hill and Carrboro and the International Association of Science Parks. Scott serves on the Planning and Design Commission at Georgia Tech and has recently been appointed to the Board of the Qatar Science & Technology Park.