NEWS RELEASE, 05/15/98


Edward Penhoet, former president and CEO of Chiron Corp., is named new dean of UC Berkeley's School of Public Health

By Public Affairs staff

BERKELEY -- Edward E. Penhoet, the 57-year-old former president and chief executive officer of Chiron Corp., will be the new dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl announced today (Friday, May 15). Penhoet will step down from his current post as vice chair of Chiron when he assumes his new job at UC Berkeley on July 1.

"Ed Penhoet played a central role in the founding and development of Chiron, one of the best biotechnology companies in the country," said Berdahl. "His expertise and leadership will maximize the strengths of the School of Public Health and the campus."

Berdahl simultaneously announced another new dean - Laura D'Andrea Tyson, former chief economic advisor to President Bill Clinton, who will head the Haas School of Business. In their new leadership roles, the two distinguished scholars will build UC Berkeley's academic program and enhance its national and international recognition, he said.

Penhoet co-founded Chiron in Emeryville, Calif., in 1981 and was president and CEO of the prominent biotechnology company until May 1, 1998. At various times during his tenure, he oversaw virtually all of the company's activities, including research, finance, administration, human resources, manufacturing and regulatory matters.

"Ed Penhoet has shown extraordinary leadership in his work at Chiron," said UC Berkeley's Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Carol T. Christ. "His management skills, his ability to build 1consensus, his connections to biological research inside and outside the university, and his loyalty and love for the campus make him a wonderful choice to lead the School of Public Health. I am very excited to be working with him."

A native of Oakland, Calif., Penhoet is also an adjunct professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.

Penhoet, a graduate of Stanford University who earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Washington in 1968, was a UC Berkeley assistant professor from 1971 to 1976 and an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry from 1976 to 1983. He resigned his tenured faculty position in 1983 to further build Chiron.

Since leaving his full-time faculty appointment at UC Berkeley, Penhoet has maintained close contact with the university, teaching an undergraduate biochemistry course almost every year and receiving the first Distinguished Faculty Award for the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology in 1991.

He is also active on the UC systemwide biotechnology advisory committee, the UC Berkeley Chancellor's biotechnology planning board and the advisory board for the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Nationally, Penhoet served on three National Research Council boards: the Commission on Life Sciences, the Committee for Undergraduate Science Education and the National Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists assessment. He is also chairman of the California Healthcare Institute and is on the boards of directors of many institutions.

Penhoet's honors are many and include the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Ernst and Young Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Harvard Business School's Northern California Alumni Chapter Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

In selecting Penhoet, the campus' School of Public Health has successfully completed its national search for an executive. He will be the first UC Berkeley public health dean tapped from industry.

"Ed is no stranger to the School of Public Health," said Patricia Buffler, current dean of the school. "As a member of the school's Policy Advisory Council since 1993, he has been instrumental in helping the school position itself for the new century by expanding its constituencies, strengthening its programs and educating tomorrow's public health leaders. I am delighted that someone of Ed's caliber and vision will be leading the school into the next millennium."

"I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to return to UC Berkeley as dean at Public Health," said Penhoet. "I expect to build upon the school's strong traditions of teaching, research, and contributions to health while enhancing its role as a focal point for health sciences at UC Berkeley. Additionally, I hope to foster interactions with other UC campuses - particularly UCSF - and to maximize the positive impact of the school on public health in the U.S. and throughout the world."

UC Berkeley's School of Public Health was the first such institution west of the Mississippi when it was founded in 1943. Since then, it has become one of the world's preeminent centers dedicated to the promotion and protection of the health of the human population and noted for excellence in teaching, research and service.


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