Staff Directory
585 Cobb Avenue, MD 0111
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Fax: (470) 578-9110
If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please contact the Office of
Intellectual Property Development at intellectualproperty@kennesaw.edu.

Dr. Christopher Cornelison
- Director of Intellectual Property Development
- Ex Officio Member - Intellectual Property Committee
- Assistant Professor of Microbiology
Phone: (470) 578-5115
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Dr. Cornelison earned his B.S. in microbiology at the University of Georgia in 2009,
and his M.S. and Ph.D. in applied and environmental microbiology at Georgia State
University in 2011 and 2013, respectively. He then served as a post-doctoral research
associate with the U.S. Forest Service until 2016 when he joined Kennesaw State University
as a research scientist (now assistant professor) in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the director of the BioInnovation Laboratory. He served as associate director of undergraduate research for two years before becoming director of the Office of Intellectual Property Development in spring 2020 when the new support unit was established within the Office of Research.
Dr. Cornelison directs externally funded research in his laboratory at KSU and is
engaged in mentoring graduate and undergraduate researchers on campus. He serves as
an ad hoc reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed journals, is a board member of the Georgia
Bat Working Group, and is a co-chair of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and
Biotechnology’s (SIMB) Recent Advancements in Microbial Control conference (RAMC).
Dr. Cornelison has received funding from the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and
Bat Conservation International.

Dr. Bill Diong
- Associate Vice President for Research
- Professor of Electrical Engineering
Phone: (470) 578-5574
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Dr. Diong earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University
of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), all in electrical engineering. With his academic career
spanning two decades, Dr. Diong is currently a professor of electrical engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering in the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology at KSU. In January 2020, he joined the Office of Research as associate vice president for research and became an ex officio member of the Intellectual Property Committee.
As principal or co-investigator of research projects focused on dynamic systems and
electric power, several of which were interdisciplinary collaborations, Dr. Diong
has received research and education grants from funding sources such as the National
Science Foundation, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
the Georgia Department of Transportation, Ford, and El Paso Electric. He was recognized
for his scholarly achievements with KSU’s Outstanding Research and Creative Award
(Engineering Applications) in 2018.