Director’s Award

William Rutter – Founder, Chairman and CEO, Synergenics, LLC; former Chairman, Chiron

In 1968, Dr. Rutter became the Chair of the Biochemistry and Biophysics program at UCSF and set about transforming it. He turned the department into a leading research organization, with emphasis on an interdisciplinary molecular approach. Under his guidance the department made some of the most important contributions to biotechnology, including the development of recombinant DNA techniques and the first cloning of genes for insulin and human growth hormone.

He took his work beyond academics in 1981 when he founded Chiron Corporation with two UC colleagues. Among the company’s many accomplishments, it is credited with creating the first genetically engineered vaccine. It also developed diagnostic tests to determine contamination of blood, and produced biological products to treat multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

In 2002, Dr. Rutter founded Synergenics, a consortium of affiliated concept-stage biotech startups.

Dr. Rutter is on the Board of iMetrikus, Inc., the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Science. He has received numerous awards including the Heinz Award for Technology and the Economy, the Biotechnology Hall of Fame, and the Alan Cranston Living Legend Award.