Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries
Jerry A. Sudarsky
Award honoring contributions to the growth of the chemical and molecular sciences community presented at CHF's Heritage Day, 15 May 2008

The Chemical Heritage Foundation has selected Jerry A. Sudarsky, respected business leader and successful industrialist, to receive the 2008 Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries. The award will be presented as part of the 11th annual Heritage Day festivities, which will take place at CHF in Philadelphia on 15 May 2008.

Sudarsky, principal founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, attended the University of Iowa from 1936 to 1939 on a scholarship, where he was pitcher on the baseball team. He briefly spent some time with the Boston Red Sox in spring training before discovering his calling in the biotech industry. Returning to school, he obtained a degree in chemical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

In 1946 Sudarsky founded his first company, Pacific Yeast Products, later named Bioferm Corporation, one of the first biotech companies in the world. Bioferm pioneered the production of vitamin B₁₂ and created and marketed the first bio-insecticide products. Sudarsky sold the company in 1960 and joined the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), a United Nations agency dedicated to helping underdeveloped nations develop and improve their industrial base. Working for UNIDO, he helped found Israel Chemicals and served as its chairman from 1968 to 1972. He later served as vice chairman for Daylin, Inc., and Jacobs Engineering Group.

In 1994, using his extensive experience in the design, engineering, construction, and operations of commercial properties, Sudarsky created Health Science Properties, now known as Alexandria Real Estate Equities, a company that provides laboratory space to the biotech industry. Three years after its inception, Alexandria went public on the New York Stock Exchange with fewer than 10 employees.

Sudarsky and his wife, Milly, have supported many worthy causes and institutions, including the Sudarsky Biochemical Building and the Sudarsky Center for Computational Biology at Hebrew University.

About the Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries
The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) established the Award for Supporting Industries in 2006. The inaugural award went to Richard J. Bolte, Sr., founder and chairman of BDP International. In 2007 CHF renamed the award the Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries. The award is presented annually by CHF to recognize outstanding contributions by a leader who provides products or services vital to the continuing growth and development of the chemical and molecular sciences community.

THE CHEMICAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION (CHF) serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; encourages research in CHF collections; and carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society.