Hunt is on for Life Sciences Center director
Executive will head billion-dollar agency
While it is still too early to tell who, exactly, Gov. Deval Patrick will appoint to the board of directors for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which will administer his $1 billion life sciences initiative, the search for an executive director has already begun.
Search party
Kofi Jones, spokeswoman for Daniel O'Connell, secretary of housing and economic development, whose office is overseeing the nascent Life Sciences Center until a board has been appointed, confirmed to the Worcester Business Journal that Russell Reynolds Associates, a Boston-based executive talent search firm, was hired to begin the search. Jones said the timetable for finding a suitable candidate is within the next six to eight months.
While the center's executive director will not have a formal vote in administrative proceedings, Jones said, the job will be demanding nonetheless.
"The incoming director will immediately be tasked with managing a $10 million public entity, one that will grow to a billion dollars over 10 years. That's a significant job description," Jones said. "We're seeking a qualified, experienced candidate with a demonstrated record in managing a major research space or funding organization in academia, government or the industry."
Nine men out
In a bill submitted to the legislature in July, Patrick outlined a seven-member board that would govern the Life Sciences Center. The board will definitely include Leslie Kirwan, secretary of administration and finance, or her designee; Daniel O'Connell, or his designee; and Jack Wilson, president of the University of Massachusetts, or his designee.
The remaining four spots on the board are to be appointed by the governor, according to the proposed legislation, and are to include a physician licensed to practice in the state and affiliated with an academic medical center; a CEO of a state life sciences company which is a member of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council; a researcher involved in the commercialization of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals or medical diagnostic products; and a venture capitalist with "significant experience in the life sciences sector."
Kevin O'Sullivan, president and CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, a research and incubator facility in Worcester, speculated the board would soon be amended to include a representative from both the Massachusetts House and Senate, bringing the total number of directors to nine.
O'Sullivan said that should the board be expanded to include legislative representation, Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, chair of the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies, would make a good candidate.
Bosley did not return calls seeking comment by deadline.
O'Sullivan cautioned against the board growing to become too unwieldy for its purposes. Originally conceived as a five-person board, it was expanded to seven in the submitted legislation.
"Nine is probably the maximum," he said.
Not just another hack
O'Sullivan said that finding a suitable executive director was a logical first step in determining the board, but warned against political cronyism.
"The person they hire needs to be a lot of things, but they don't need just another political hack," O'Sullivan said. "The position needs someone with a good depth of academic and research experience, but also someone with business experience too."
As for the four standing appointments to the board, O'Sullivan said that, were he to be asked by the governor to serve, he certainly would, though he said he is not actively lobbying for his or anyone else's nomination.
Jones stressed that the ultimate power of appointment will rest with Patrick, and said he will consult with his top advisers before making any decisions.
The center recently launched a life sciences talent initiative in partnership with the UMass Donahue Institute, and has created a research matching grant program to help provide funding to technologies in the gray area between the discovery and research and development phases and commercialization, Jones said.
"The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is moving ahead at full speed," Jones said. "We're not waiting for the passage of this legislation to move the life science goals of the commonwealth forward."
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