ASU Appoints Luna Lu Innovation Chief After Purdue Drove 80% Research-Award Jump

1 articles · Updated · ASU News Now · Jul 1

Luna Lu will join Arizona State University this fall as vice president of innovation and managing director of the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute, while also leading corporate engagement and strategic partnerships.
ASU tapped Lu to expand entrepreneurship, research commercialization and industry ties across its Knowledge Enterprise as Phoenix grows as a technology hub spanning semiconductors, AI, robotics, sustainability and health care.
Purdue gives Lu a recent operating track record: industry-sponsored research awards hit a fiscal 2026 record under her leadership, up roughly 80% from the previous year.
More than 10 years at Purdue, 150-plus peer-reviewed papers and 10 patents add to Lu’s profile as a researcher-entrepreneur; her startup Wavelogix is used in more than 30 U.S. states and six countries.
The hire positions ASU to build on its repeated No. 1 U.S. innovation ranking and deepen its role in Arizona’s economic development and talent pipeline.