The North Carolina Biotechnology Center‘s new board chairman is an architect who has had a hand in designing facilities for many of the companies comprising the state’s life sciences industry.
John Atkins, chairman and CEO of Durham, North Carolina design services firm O’Brien/Atkins Associates, has been elected chairman of the Biotech Center, the nonprofit corporation funded by the state to support biotechnology business and education throughout North Carolina.
Atkins succeeds Arthur Pappas, founder and managing partner of Durham venture capital firm Pappas Ventures. Pappas has been board chair since 2008.
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Atkins is familiar with the life sciences infrastructure in the Research Triangle and other parts of the state. His firm has done projects for pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) and Targacept (NASDAQ:TRGT).
Atkins said in a prepared statement that he wants to continue the biotechnology industry’s growth in North Carolina. According to the Biotech Center, the life sciences industry employs 58,495 people at more than 530 companies. Despite the economic downturn, the state’s biotech industry grew 4.1 percent during 2009 and 2010.
“We have great opportunity to create jobs,” Atkins said. “The competition for jobs is now global, and the Biotechnology Center is providing tremendous expertise to assist in attracting those jobs.”
In addition to electing Atkins chairman, the board elected Targacept CEO Donald deBethizy as vice chair. Michael Constantino, managing partner at Ernst & Young’s Raleigh office, was elected treasurer and John F.A.V. Cecil, president of Biltmore Farms, was re-elected secretary.
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Atkins holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from North Carolina State University and a master’s degree in regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.