Sam Dryden

Ray Dryden, more familiarly known as Sam, is internationally recognized as a successful investor and developer of life-sciences ventures. His particular expertise is in the application, scale-up and commercialization of early-stage technologies world-wide.

He is CEO of Emergent Genetics, LLC — a life sciences investment holding company. Until June 2006, Sam served as the Chair and Corporate CEO of Emergent Genetics, Inc. — a global leader in the development and marketing of biotechnology-enhanced seed products. Emergent Genetics’ operations were based in Europe, the United States, Argentina and Brazil, and comprised one of the largest seed companies in India. The majority of the Company was acquired in April 2005 by the Monsanto Company and its remaining operations were acquired in June 2006 by Syngenta AG.

Early life

A native of eastern Kentucky, Sam received his B.A. degree in economics from Emory University in 1973. He began his career as an Analyst with the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, with responsibilities for modeling and forecasting selected sectors of the US economy. He was then employed by the Union Carbide Corporation from 1974 to 1980, with responsibilities for various aspects of new corporate ventures. These transactions involved extended assignments in Japan, Europe, and South America.

In 1980, Sam led the spin-out of Union Carbide’s biotechnologies and related business operations and was subsequently co-founder, President and CEO of Agrigenetics Corporation. The Company grew to become one of the world’s largest seed enterprises and was acquired in 1985 - it is now part of Dow AgroSciences. During this same period, he was also chairman of an affiliated partnership which managed and invested $60 million in proprietary plant sciences research conducted in leading universities, as well as private and public research institutions worldwide.

Business Ventures

Following the sale of Agrigenetics, Sam founded and was President of Big Stone Inc. — a private venture-investment and development company focused on the life sciences. The firm participated in founding over a dozen companies in areas such as biopesticides, novel nucleic acid-based therapeutics and diagnostic products, transgenic animals, fermentation based production of vitamins, pharmaceutical clinical trialing, environmental toxicological testing and bio therapeutics. Sam also served as the non-executive chairman of Celgro Inc., an independent venture of Celgene Corporation, a company focused on the development of novel, single-isomer, agricultural chemical compounds.

Public Sector Activities

In addition to his for-profit activities, Sam has extensive pro-bono involvement in efforts relating to food security and international economic development. Currently he is an advisor to The World Bank regarding rural development strategy. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. Sam serves on the National Academies Panel on Science and Technology for Global Sustainability. In the past, he served on the Steering Committee for the Global Assessment on Agricultural Science and Technology, led by the World Bank. He was a member of the Executive Council, as well as chair of the Private Sector Committee, of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. He has been an advisor to the Rockefeller Foundation and a member of the Design Advisory Committee and Scientific Advisory Board of its African Agricultural Technology Foundation — an organization created for the advancement of African food security. In the mid-1980s, Sam chaired a Rockefeller Brothers Fund development initiative to benefit developing country food security. He also served on the Board of the South/North Development Initiative — a private Rockefeller Family foundation for alleviation of rural poverty in less developed countries through entrepreneurial development. He is a past member of the U.S. Government’s Agricultural Sciences and Technology Review Board.

Sam is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on its Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property and American Competitiveness. In the past he served on its Study Group analyzing trade issues between the United States and Europe surrounding genetically modified foods.

He has written and lectured widely on the policy issues of food security, the evolving nature of global public goods and new mechanisms for public and private sector relations. In this regard, his travels have taken him on missions to the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa, and most countries in Latin America, including Cuba.