Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries
G. Steven Burrill
2012 Winner: G. Steven Burrill
G. Steven Burrill, founder and CEO of Burrill and Company, received the 2012 Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries on Heritage Day, April 12, 2012.
Burrill has been involved in the growth and prosperity of the biotechnology industry for over 40 years. An early biotech pioneer, Burrill is one of the original architects of the industry and one of its most avid and sustained developers. He is currently the CEO of Burrill and Company, a diversified global financial-services firm focused on the life-sciences industry, and serves on the boards of directors of Catalyst Biosciences, Depomed, NewBridge, Novadaq, Proventys, Targacept, and XDx.
Before founding Burrill and Company in 1994, he spent 28 years with Ernst and Young, directing and coordinating the firm’s services to clients in the biotechnology, life-sciences, high-technology, and manufacturing industries worldwide. In 2002 Burrill was recognized as a biotech investment visionary by Scientific American (as one of the “Scientific American 50”). In 2008 he received the BayBio Pantheon DiNA lifetime-achievement award for his worldwide biotech leadership.
In addition to his work with leading life-sciences companies Burrill is a founder and currently chairman of the board of the Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology. He also serves as chairman of the San Francisco Mayor’s Biotech Advisory Committee. Burrill chaired the National Research Council study on links in biotechnology between Japan and the United States and was also involved with the U.S.–Japan Science and Technology Agreement Study of Technology Transfer Mechanisms.
Other not-for-profit activities include serving on the board of directors of the Bay Area Science Infrastructure Consortium, BayBio (emeritus), California Healthcare Institute (emeritus), the Exploratorium (emeritus), the Kellogg Center for Biotechnology, the MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation, the National Health Museum (vice chairman), the World Council for Ethical Standards (chairman), the Vilas County (Wisconsin) Economic Development Group (chairman), BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH), the University of Wisconsin Extension, the Scientific American Board of Advisers, and the Harvard Medical School Genetics Advisory Council. He is an adviser to the University of Illinois Institute for Genomic Biology, the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences, and Duke University. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Francisco.
About the Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries
The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) established the Award for Supporting Industries in 2006. The inaugural award went to Richard J. Bolte, Sr., founder and chairman of BDP International. In 2007 CHF renamed the award the Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries. The award is presented annually by CHF to recognize outstanding contributions by a leader who provides products or services vital to the continuing growth and development of the chemical and molecular sciences community.