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May 12, 2014

Life sciences center chief plans to leave high-paying state post

COURTESY PHOTO Massachusetts Life Sciences Center CEO Susan Windham-Bannister said her decision to leave her job in six months coincides with the end of Gov. Deval Patrick's turn as governor.

Massachusetts Life Sciences Center CEO Susan Windham-Bannister plans to wind down her tenure as head of the quasi-public business development agency over the coming months after six years at the helm during a boom period for life sciences in Massachusetts.

Windham-Bannister, the center's first and only president since its creation in 2008 as part of a $1 billion life sciences investment initiative, said she has "absolutely no idea" what might be next for her, but felt the ending of the Patrick administration marked a good time for her to move on. Her current salary is $285,000.

"I am going through my transition," Windham-Bannister said. "I was hired to take the legislation and put the words on the paper into action and bring it to life. I always envisioned my work would dovetail with Gov. Patrick's term of service so I feel this is a good time for me to look for the next challenge."

The Life Sciences Center board, led by Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki and Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor, will conduct a search for her successor, and Windham-Bannister will remain on the job until the transition is completed, she said.

Windham-Bannister said that when she took the job, Massachusetts was in heated competition with other states like New York, California, Ohio, North Carolina and Maryland for life sciences business and development.

"During my tenure and the result of this initiative, Massachusetts is now hands down the undisputed global leader in the life sciences. And that is fantastic. But we can't rest on our laurels," she said, noting that California and New York, in particular, have the state in their "crosshairs."

During a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce last week, Senate President Therese Murray singled out the work being done by the Life Sciences Center. Murray said the $1 billion life sciences law approved in 2008 has created more than 2,500 new jobs and companies that have received assistance from the life sciences center have created more than 7,700 jobs and invested more than $520 million.

Windham-Bannister said that over the past six years, the work at the center has proven how public-private partnerships can be effective, leveraging $1.5 billion in private investment from $525 million in public funding. The industry has created jobs at a faster clip than any other sector in the state, she said.

"We're really proud we've been able to demonstrate that as a model," she said.

Windham-Bannister graduated from Wellesley College and has a doctorate in health policy and management from Brandeis University, and a doctor of science degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Windham-Bannister said she was not in a position to comment on possible successors, and suggested the Life Sciences Center board will likely hire a search firm to assist in the process of finding her replacement.

As a frequent travel companion of the governor's on overseas trade missions, Windham-Bannister said she's able to point to "a whole array of companies" in the state that got to know Massachusetts on those trips and learn about what the Patrick administration and the Legislature were doing to promote the industry.

"This has been the pinnacle of my career. It's been a labor of love and the absolute highlight of my career," Windham-Bannister said.

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