Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> July 5, 2004
JAY M. SHORT is President and Chief Executive Officer of Diversa
Corporation. Dr. Short is a founding member of Diversa Corporation and
has served as Chief Technology Officer and Director of the company since
its inception in 1994. He assumed the additional role of President in
1998. In February of 2000, Dr. Short led the company's highly successful
initial public offering, which raised over $200 million in gross
proceeds ' the largest biotechnology IPO ever completed at the time.
Diversa was recently named one of the 100 most influential companies
that will have the greatest influence on the future of human health. The
company's patent portfolio is ranked #1 on the 2003 Patent Scorecard by
the MIT Survey. Diversa Corporation is a leader in applying proprietary
genomic technologies for the rapid discovery and optimization of novel
products from genes and gene pathways. Dr. Short serves as a Director
for Invitrogen, a leading biotechnology company in the area of gene
expression, based in Carlsbad, California, Stressgen Biotechnologies,
focusing on the medical application of stress proteins and Senomyx,
Inc., a leader in discovering new and improved proprietary flavor and
fragrance molecules. He previously served as Head of Research and
Operations of Stratagene Cloning Systems and President of their
subsidiaries. He serves as a Board Member for BIOCOM San Diego,
Committee Member for BioCom Science and Technology, and Advisory Board
Member for Chemical and Engineering News. Dr. Short has served on the
U.S. National Entrepreneur of the Year Judging Panel, the U.S. National
Research Council Panel for Chemical Science & Technology for NIST, and
as a U.S. Committee Member for Evaluation of Biotechnology Research in
Spain. He has been a Reviewer for Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, Genetic Analysis Techniques, Analytical Biochemistry, &
Nucleic Acids Research and for the U.S. Congressional Office of
Technology Assessment (OTA) on The Human Genome Project and Patenting
DNA Sequences. Dr. Short is a Board Director for the Young Presidents'
Organization (YPO) in San Diego; Member of the International Young
Presidents' Organization (YPO); Visiting Scientist, International Centre
of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) Kenya; and Lifetime Fellow
member of The Explorers Club. He was named Ernst & Young's San Diego
Entrepreneur of the Year 2001, finalist for Ernst & Young's San Diego
Entrepreneur of the Year 2000, recipient of two first place awards
granted by the University of California, San Diego, Innovations in
Biotechnology Connect Program and Dr. Short's grant program was selected
in the top one percent of research programs in the United States for
commercializing new products funded by the SBIR program. Dr. Short has
authored over 100 publications and is named inventor for over 70 issued
patents. He received his PhD in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland, Ohio, BA with honors in Chemistry from Taylor
University in Upland, Indiana and Director Training Certification from
the University of California, Los Angeles. Profile
picture of the things at the present time.
Dr. Short: The company was founded in 1994 with a vision that microbial
genes
