BIO Announces Brent Erickson to Step Down as Executive Vice President, Industrial and Environmental Section

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) announced today that after 19 years leading the Industrial and Environmental Section, Executive Vice President Brent Erickson will step down from the organization in March 2019 to begin new business ventures.

“As our first and only leader in BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, Brent Erickson helped establish the fledging industrial biotech sector as a key part of the biotech business community,” said BIO President and CEO James C. Greenwood. “He has been a tireless advocate for BIO’s industrial biotech section, and we owe Brent a huge debt of gratitude for his long and successful career at BIO.”

Arriving in March 2000 to lead the newly-created Industrial and Environmental Section, Erickson has compiled a series of impressive advocacy wins under his belt. Four years after taking the helm, Erickson started the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology—an event that is now the world’s largest conference on industrial biotechnology. Additionally, Erickson helped found the Journal of Industrial Biotechnology in 2005 and has served as a consulting editor with the publication throughout his BIO career.

Erickson also helped create the Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture and the George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology to recognize and honor outstanding men and women in the field. His passion and accomplishments have helped establish the industrial biotech sector and have advanced the creation of a global biobased economy.

Prior to joining BIO, Erickson held several highly-regarded staff positions in the U.S. Senate and at the American Petroleum Institute (API) in Washington, D.C. Following his departure from BIO in the spring, Erickson expects to start BioInsights Consulting LLC, a boutique consulting company to serve companies innovating in biotechnology.