BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Recognizing leadership and transformation, the National Association of Corporate Directors New England Chapter (NACDNE) today announced it is honoring two corporate boards and three individuals with NACDNE’s Director of the Year Awards for 2019.
Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. was named as Public Company Board of the Year and Moderna, Inc., a Cambridge, Mass., biotechnology company, as the Private Company Board of the year.
NACDNE also honored (full profiles follow):
- Advent International Chairman Emeritus Peter A. Brooke with its Lifetime Achievement Award
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dorothy E. Puhy with its Leadership in Corporate Governance Award
- And Bain Capital Double Impact Managing Director Greg A. Shell with the Myra H. Kraft Award for Non-Profit Leadership.
Each year, NACDNE recognizes the most engaged and impactful board members in the region for their excellence in corporate governance and their lasting contributions to the boards on which they serve. In addition to honoring individuals, the NACD New England Chapter commends entire boards for their track records in significantly protecting or enhancing stakeholder value. Nominees are determined by nominating and selection committees made up of a diverse range of New England business and community leaders, who then select honorees based on a comprehensive analysis of the extent and impact of nominees’ board activity. The 2019 awards, which will be formally presented on May 6 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston, mark the 13th year NACDNE has been honoring top board leaders.
The theme of this year’s Awards – “Transformation and Leadership” – encompasses the role of the NACD as a trusted resource for boards seeking the wisdom and direction necessary to become a strategic asset for the companies and organizations they lead.
“Among the many fields in which New England is known as a world-leading place to do business, the life sciences are a particular strength for us, making it especially exciting to see the boards of directors of Vertex and Moderna recognized for their vision and success,” said NACDNE Co-Chair R. Robert Popeo, chairman and president of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
NACDNE President Beth I.Z. Boland, Chair of the Securities Enforcement and Litigation Group at Foley & Lardner LLP, said: “Each as individuals, Peter Brooke, Dorothy Puhy, and Greg Shell are leaders and innovators who have strengthened the vital institutions they lead, building prosperity and improving the health of countless people and communities. As a trio, they exemplify New England’s finest traditions of all the ways corporate directors’ leadership can transform our companies, institutions, and society for the best.”
Gala Chair Ellen Zane, CEO Emeritus of Tufts Medical Center and NACDNE’s 2015 Honoree for Leadership in Public Company Governance, said: “Today, service on boards of directors brings more responsibility and more scrutiny than ever, demanding that the caliber and integrity of board members never be assumed and that they perform at the top of their game. This reality only reinforces the importance of NACDNE’s mission of providing information, education, and training for directors. It’s a special honor to be able to highlight these individuals, especially given the talent and commitment they lend to their organizations.”
Cathy Minehan, Arlington Advisory Partners Managing Director and former CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, who chairs the NACDNE Director of the Year Selection Committee and was 2013 Honoree for Leadership in Public Company Governance, said: “As chair of the selection committee, I would like to recognize the hard work of everyone who served on the nominating committee and focused on which companies and individuals from a very competitive pool should be recognized this year. Their insights were powerful contributions to the selection process, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.”
Full profiles of the five winners:
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Public Company Board of the Year
Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious and life-threatening diseases. In addition to clinical development programs in CF, Vertex has more than a dozen ongoing research programs focused on the underlying mechanisms of other serious diseases.
Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Mass., Vertex's headquarters is now located in Boston's Innovation District. Today, the company has research and development sites and commercial offices in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and Latin America. Vertex is consistently recognized as one of the industry's top places to work, including being named to Science magazine's Top Employers in the life sciences ranking for nine years in a row. For additional information and the latest updates from the company, please visit www.vrtx.com.
Moderna: Private Company Board of the Year
Moderna is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, a new class of potential medicines that directs the body’s cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit for both patients and healthy individuals.
Moderna is creating potential mRNA medicines for a wide range of diseases and conditions which currently include infectious diseases, oncology, rare genetic diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Moderna currently has strategic alliances for development programs with AstraZeneca, Plc. and Merck, Inc, as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Today, Moderna has 21 mRNA development candidates in its pipeline of which 10 are currently in clinical development.
Moderna’s common stock began trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market on December 7, 2018, under the ticker symbol “MRNA.”
Lifetime Achievement in Governance Award: Peter A. Brooke
Mr. Brooke began his career at the First National Bank of Boston as a loan officer in 1956. While at the bank, he helped form the High Technology Lending Group and began his deep involvement in venture capital investing. In 1961, Mr. Brooke became the head of venture capital and special situation investing at Bessemer Securities Corporation, then two years later left Bessemer to form a venture capital management company with the partners of Tucker, Anthony & RL Day. Three years later, Mr. Brooke became the partner in charge of Tucker Anthony’s corporate finance and venture capital departments. In 1968, he formed TA Associates, which has since become one of the largest venture capital firms in the United States.
In 1973, Mr. Brooke co-founded Sofinnova S.A. in Paris with the French Ministry of Industry and Credit National. Sofinnova is the European Continent’s oldest venture capital firm. Building on this experience, Mr. Brooke helped to establish several other leading venture capital firms in Europe, Asia and Latin America over the next decade.
Mr. Brooke’s interest in international venture capital led to the formation of Advent International Corporation in 1984. Advent is the successor to the international operations of TA Associates, and Mr. Brooke became Advent’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer upon leaving TA in 1984. Under his leadership, Advent grew to be one of the world’s largest and most respected private equity firms, pioneering the investment approach in Europe, Latin America and Asia. In 1996, Mr. Brooke retired as CEO of Advent but remained Chairman until December 2015. He is currently Chairman Emeritus. Today the firm has $41 billion in assets under management, more than 190 investment professionals, and offices across 12 countries. Advent has invested in more than 340 companies globally.
A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, Mr. Brooke served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a Trustee of both the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary and WGBH Educational Foundation, and a Member of the Board of Directors of Cambridge (England) Technology Management. He is a former Overseer of Harvard University and Trustee of Colgate University, the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship, and the Middlesex School. Mr. Brooke is a member of the Private Equity Hall of Fame and recipient of the National Venture Capital Association’s Lifetime Achievement in Venture Capital Award and Harvard Business School’s Alumni Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Boston Business Journal named Mr. Brooke one of Greater Boston’s 100 most influential business people of the 20th century.
Leadership in Corporate Governance Award: Dorothy E. Puhy
Dorothy Puhy has spent over 40 years in Boston healthcare, serving in the government (state regulatory), private (Ernst & Young), and provider segments of the industry. After spending the last 25 years at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, she recently retired as its Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Puhy also taught financial management as an adjunct professor at the Harvard School of Public Health for more than 20 years.
Ms. Puhy is Lead Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Abiomed Inc., and at Eaton Vance serves as Director, Chair of the Nominating/Governance Committee, and member of the Audit Committee. At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, she is a Director, Chair of the Audit Committee, and Vice Chair of the Finance Committee. She has been a longtime Director at Controlled Risk Insurance Company (CRICO), the Harvard medical community’s captive insurance company, where she serves as Chair of the Finance Committee.
Before her retirement, she was active in the governance of many professional and industry organizations. Among them she served as a Director, Chair of the Audit Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee at National Comprehensive Cancer Network. At United Way Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, she was Director and Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Executive Committee. Over the years, she has been on the board of several other not-for-profit organizations.
Myra H. Kraft Award for Non-Profit Leadership: Greg A. Shell
Over the last 20 years, Mr. Shell has been involved with many civic and business organizations in the city of Boston, ranging from education and healthcare to financial services and cultural institutions. Organizations for which he serves as a Director include: Life Science Cares; Eastern Bank; Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston; Compass Working Capital, where he was the Founding Board Member; Massachusetts General Hospital, where he serves on the President’s Council; The Boston Foundation; and Fiduciary Trust. He has also previously served as a Director at a number or organizations including The Chestnut Hill School, The Efficacy Institute, Noble and Greenough School, the Museum of African-American History, Roxbury Prep Charter School, and The Partnership Inc.
Professionally, Mr. Shell serves as a Managing Director at Bain Capital and co-leads the Double Impact Fund, the firm’s $390MM social impact strategy. The fund invests in companies that provide attractive financial returns alongside social and environmental impact. Before coming to Bain Capital, he had an 18-year public equity career, including as a portfolio manager at Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. and as a senior equity analyst at Columbia Management.
Mr. Shell was listed as one of The 100 Most Influential People in Boston in 2018 by Boston Magazine. He is a previous recipient of the Boston Business Journal’s “40 under 40” Award (2011) and the Boston Chamber of Commerce’s “Ten Outstanding Young Leaders” award (2012). He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a concentration in economics and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he was a Bert King and Robert Toigo Foundation Fellow. He has two sons, Greg Jr. and Elijah, and lives in Boston.
About NACD New England (NACDNE)
The NACD New England Chapter, part of the larger NACD network, is the leading source in New England for corporate governance information, education, and training for directors and CEOs who are committed to raising boardroom standards. NACD has a national presence in Washington, D.C., with 22 active regional chapters, and more than 17,000 director and key executive members around the country. Learn more about NACD membership and general governance information online at www.NACDonline.org.
