Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award
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1998 Recipient: Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni |
A biochemist, Dr. Zaffaroni served as director of Syntex Research and then its parent corporation, Syntex Laboratories, before leaving in 1969 to start Alza Cooperation. Alza is now a $2 billion corporation that has pioneered the development of a broad range of drug delivery technologies.
In 1981 he founded DNAX Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, which was acquired by Schering-Plough Corporation.
In 1988 he founded the Affymax Research Institute in Palo Alto, which is developing an applying new drug discovery technologies to improve the productivity of drug development and provide a continuous source of new drugs. Affymax was acquired by GlaxoWellcome in 1995 for $538 million. Affymax, a company Dr. Zaffaroni founded in 1993, employs 100 people and is dedicated to the application of combinatorial chemistry for genetic analysis, diagnosis and research.
In 1995, Dr. Zaffaroni was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Clinton in recognition of his contributions to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Dr. Zaffaroni studied medicine at the University of Montevideo, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree. In 1949, he received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Rochester.
The lifetime achievement award was inaugurated in 1998.
Honorees include:
2007 Recipient: L. John Doerr
2006 Recipient: F. Warren Hellman
2005 Recipient: C. Richard Kramlich
2004 Recipient: Sanford R. Robertson
2003 Recipient: Dr. Ralph Landau
2002 Recipient: Dr. Edward Penhoet
2001 Recipient: Mr. William Hambrecht
2000 Recipient: Dr. Gordon Moore
1999 Recipient: Mr. Arthur Rock
1998 Recipient: Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni
Through the Lifetime Achievement Award, we seek to identify exemplars of entrepreneurship whose success can teach future generations by the example they set. Further, it allows us to bring outstanding practitioners to the Berkeley campus, creating opportunities for exchanges of ideas with faculty and students. We believe that by enhancing the interaction among academics, entrepreneurs, scientists and faculty, pragmatists and idealists, we help foster entrepreneurial success for individuals and the community as a whole.
The Lester Center has identified three distinct components shared by successful entrepreneurs. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the presence of these elements in the people who are thus honored. First, the award recognizes entrepreneurial excellence. This is reflected in the individual’s success in multiple business arenas and the significant impact of that success on a given industry.
Second, the award acknowledges the individual’s leadership in both business and community. As a leader, the award recipient models behavior that young entrepreneurs can emulate.
The third component of the award recognizes the efforts by which the entrepreneur returns value to his/her community. The award recipient’s contributions may be to the preservation of the environment, improvement of educational opportunity, or some other substantial contribution to the well-being of the community.
