Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> October 25, 1999
DR DAVID J.H. SMITH, aged 58, is currently Chief Executive Officer and
Director of Research and Development for Whatman plc. He obtained his
first degree from the University of Aston in 1963 and a PhD in Organic
Chemistry in 1967 from the University of Western Ontario. He then
carried out work on biological mechanisms at the University of
California, San Diego, before returning to the UK to take up an
appointment in the Chemistry Department at the University of Leicester.
At Leicester and as a visiting professor at McGill University, his
research covered a wide area with emphasis on the organic chemistry of
sulphur and phosphorus compounds and aspects of biochemistry and
organometallic chemistry. He joined BP Research in 1980. He is the
author of over 100 scientific publications and patents and a member of
several scientific institutions including the Royal Society of
Chemistry. He has served on a number of committees including as
Chairman of the Science and Engineering Research Council Initiative on
the Synthesis of Materials for the 21st Century and The Polytechnics and
Colleges Advisory Group on Research. He was a founder member of the
Technology Foresight Steering Group of the Office of Science and
Technology. He is a member of the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council and the Strategic Allocations Committee of the National
Science and Engineering Council of Canada. He is also Chairman of the
LINK Board of the DTI. During his academic career, he ran his own
company and was the research director of a small clinical diagnostics
company. At BP, he gradually made the switch from active research to
active management. In 1983, he became a Principal Research Associate
and the Programme Manager for Gas Conversion Research with
responsibility for all of BP's research on gas conversion. In April
1988, he became Vice President of R & D of BP America, in September 1990
the General Manager of BP's Research Centre at Sunbury-on-Thames and in
August 1992 he was appointed Head of Group Research and Engineering. He
is married with two children, and like most trained chemists, he likes
to cook, enjoys food and wine and is still educating his palate. He
enjoys all sports, has attempted to play some and is currently trying to
lower his golf handicap. Profile
history, where you see yourselves today in the marketplace?
Dr. Smith: Whatman is a very old company. It was started in 1740
