Now That is Giving Back!

(Amgen logo circa 1983)
Thanks to my biobeer buddies who beat me to the punch on this not so small tidbit. Dr. Marvin H. Caruthers professor in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado donated a whopping $20MM to be allocated towards the construction of the $115MM Systems Biotechnology Building which will be home to the new Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology that is gaining traction under the leadership of Leslie Leinwand, Ph.D. (former chair of MCDB and co-founder of Myogen now Gilead-Colorado (NASDAQ: GILD)).

For those who pay close attention to CLSDF you may have observed my mention of Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) in yesterday’s post re: public company’s related to Colorado. Amgen has two major manufacturing facilities in Boulder and Longmont, these facilities did not emerge here by happenstance…rather Dr. Caruthers just happens to be a co-founder of Applied Molecular Genetics or for most who know it simply as…Amgen. Back in 1980 he and his colleagues pioneered the mechanisms for the synthesis of nucleic acid which formed the foundation of recombinant technologies. In addition, Dr. Caruthers is also co-founder of another little company known as Applied BioSystems (NYSE: ABI). In July Dr. Caruthers was also awarded the 2005-2006 NSF National Medal of Science.

This gift is the largest ever by a faculty member of the University. Without a doubt the community is showering Dr. Caruthers with the appropriate praise and appreciation. At this time however, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Caruthers for his monetary generosity yes, but in my humble opinion, equally as important is that as a wildly successful serial entrepreneur I also appreciate Dr. Caruthers for giving back to the Colorado life science community by making himself incredibly accessible to the next generation of Colorado life science entrepreneurs with his keen insight, wisdom and guidance. The gift of getting ones hands dirty is not only priceless but is of paramount importance for the continued build-out of Colorado as an epicenter of bioscience innovation.

Thank you Dr. Caruthers!!!