Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> January 10, 2001
JONAH SHACKNAI, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medicis
Pharmaceutical Corporation, has an extremely well diversified corporate
and public service background. From 1977 until late 1982, Mr. Shacknai
served as Chief Aide to the House of Representatives' committee with
responsibility for health policy, and in other senior legislative
positions. During his service with the House of Representatives, Mr.
Shacknai drafted significant legislation affecting health care,
environmental protection, science policy and consumer protection. He was
also a member of the Commission on the Federal Drug Approval Process and
the National Council on Drugs. From 1982 to 1988, as Senior partner in
the law firm of Royer, Shacknai, and Mehle, Mr. Shacknai represented
over 30 multinational pharmaceutical and medical device concerns, as
well as four major industry trade associations. Mr. Shacknai also served
in an executive position with Key Pharmaceuticals, Inc. prior to its
acquisition by Schering-Plough Corporation. Mr. Shacknai was recently
selected to serve on the Listed Company Advisory Committee to the New
York Stock Exchange (LCAC). The LCAC was created in 1976 by the NYSE
Board to address issues that are of critical importance to the Exchange
and the corporate community. In January 2000, Mr. Shacknai was selected
as an Entrepreneurial Fellow at the Karl Eller Center of the University
of Arizona. Mr. Shacknai is a Director of Delta Society, a public
service organization promoting animal-human bonds, and the Whispering
Hope Ranch, a foundation that fosters animal-assisted therapy for
special needs children and adults. He is also a Director of the
Southwest Autism Research Center and a member of the Board of Trustees
of the National Public Radio Foundation. In 1997, he received the
Arizona Entrepreneur of the Year award, and was one of three national
finalists for that award. Mr. Shacknai has served as a member of the
National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory
Council of the National Institutes of Health, and currently serves on
the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission, both of which are
federal cabinet-appointed positions. Mr. Shacknai obtained a BS degree
from Colgate University. Profile
Mr. Shacknai: Medicis is the leading independent dermatology concern in
the United States. We were founded in 1988 and
