Focused on creating opportunities for innovation, specifically social innovation, Dr. Gross brokers partnerships between faculty/students and industry. In April 2022, he facilitated the grand opening of the Innovation Hub at CSUSM, a space that stimulates new ideas and contributes to a culture of innovation by connecting students, staff and faculty to resources and external partnership opportunities. Dr. Gross is also tasked with building infrastructure to support faculty inventors.  To that end, he spends time creating processes to protect intellectual property and enable technology transfer and commercialization. Dr. Gross earned his B.A. in History from Creighton University, his M.A. in Education/Sociology from DePaul University, and his doctorate in Educational Leadership as part of the Joint Doctoral Program at UC San Diego and California State University San Marcos.