Starting in January the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will have Dr Larry Marshall – who has 20 patents to his name and has founded six companies – as its chief executive officer.

According to CSIRO board chairman, Simon McKeon, Marshall was chosen following an international search which considered 70 candidates to lead the nation’s peak science and research organisation.

While Marshall has impeccable credentials and a strong track record of innovation and entrepreneurship, he joins the CSIRO at a time when the future of the organisation is under a cloud due to budget cuts and the loss of several hundred personnel.

Sister organisation NICTA, which focuses on technology innovation, is facing even more swingeing cuts and will be cut loose from the Federal government’s purse strings in 2016.

In an interview with the Financial Review last week Marshall said that while CSIRO needed to do better at “creating technology for Australian industry and the public” that should not come at the expense of pure science.

The appointment of Marshall is a savvy move for CSIRO which wants to build stronger links with industry and raise the issue of science up the national agenda.

He will however have his work cut out given that Australia’s chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb has already noted that the country is the only OECD nation without a strategy for science, technology or innovation, and a poor track record in terms of encouraging students to study science, technology, engineering or maths.

Besides battling a less than committed federal government and potential skills issues, Marshall will also have to repair staff morale according to CSIRO’s staff association secretary Sam Popovoski who noted that; “CSIRO needs strong leadership as it struggles to cope with heavy cuts to funding, jobs and research.”

Marshall will replace Dr Megan Clark who has led CSIRO for six years.

He is currently managing director of Southern Cross Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm specialising in creating Australian technology companies and growing them globally in Asia and the United States.