Anthony B. Evnin, Ph.D.

As a partner at the pathbreaking venture capital firm Venrock, Anthony B. Evnin has helped to shape the modern biotechnology industry and profoundly influenced the course of translational research. As an adviser and philanthropist, he has also nurtured and advanced the translational efforts of the biomedical research community.

Born and raised in New York City, Dr. Evnin received an A.B. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He began his career as a research scientist and group leader in organic chemistry at Union Carbide and as director of product development at Story Chemical.

In 1974, Dr. Evnin joined Venrock, and he was there in 1980 as the first investment opportunities in biotechnology were emerging. Focused on building valuable companies that address key medical needs, he led Venrock’s entrance into biotechnology and the greater life sciences field, guiding its first 25 years of investments. Companies that benefited from his leadership and business acumen have included Centocor, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Genetics Institute, IDEXX Laboratories, Athena Neurosciences, Acceleron Pharma, and more than 40 others. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Juno Therapeutics, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Cantel Medical, and Constellation Pharmaceuticals.

For three decades, Dr. Evnin has also supported Rockefeller University in its mission, first as a member of The Rockefeller University Council, then as a member of the board of trustees, to which he was elected in 1999. He chaired the University’s technology transfer committee from its establishment in 2001 until he retired from the board in 2016, and he also served on the board’s scientific affairs and executive committees. He was elected a trustee emeritus in 2016.

Dr. Evnin now serves as a director of Bridge Medicines, a leading-edge initiative recently launched by Rockefeller and its Tri-Institutional partners, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medicine, to advance drug discovery projects from proof of principle to clinical development. He is also a member of the boards of overseers and managers of Memorial Sloan Kettering, a trustee of The Jackson Laboratory, a director of the New York Genome Center, a member of the board of directors of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, and a trustee emeritus of Princeton University.