Jonathan S. Dordick received his B.A. degree in Biochemistry and Chemistry from Brandeis University and his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has held chemical engineering faculty appointments at the University of Iowa (1987-1998), where he also served as the Associate Director of the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1998-present) where he is the Howard P. Isermann Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Professor of Biology. In 2008 he took over as Director of Rensselaer’s Center for Biotechnology & Interdisciplinary Studies. Prof. Dordick has received numerous awards, including the 2007 Marvin J. Johnson Award, the 2007 Elmer Gaden Award, the 2003 International Enzyme Engineering Award, the 1998 Iowa Section Award of the American Chemical Society, and an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1989. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2004 and a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers in 1996. He presently serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards for several biotechnology companies and venture capital firms. Dr. Dordick was a cofounder of EnzyMed, Inc. a pharmaceutical and agrochemical discovery company acquired by Albany Molecular Research in 1999, and is a cofounder of Solidus Biosciences, Inc. a venture-stage human drug and cosmetics toxicology company. Dr. Dordick has published over 250 papers and is an inventor/co-inventor on 32 patents and patent applications.