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PHILADELPHIA, PA—8 February 2007—The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) will present the sixth annual Pittcon Heritage Award to David Schwartz, cofounder and chairman of Bio-Rad Laboratories. Jointly sponsored by the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) and CHF, this award recognizes outstanding individuals whose entrepreneurial careers have shaped the instrumentation community, inspired achievement, promoted public understanding of the modern instrumentation sciences, and highlighted the role of analytical chemistry in world economies. The award will be presented at Pittcon 2007 in Chicago, which begins on 25 February.
About David Schwartz
Schwartz, chairman of the board of Bio-Rad, cofounded the company in 1952 with his wife Alice. "David is an individual with a great love of science, a deep entrepreneurial insight, and remarkable tenacity of vision," said CHF president Arnold Thackray. As a family he and Alice and more recently, his son Norman (now CEO), have contributed greatly to the progress of high-tech industry. Under David's leadership, Bio-Rad has evolved into a global enterprise, manufacturing and distributing a broad range of products for hospitals, universities, and major research institutions, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. It serves more than 85,000 research and industry customers through its global network of operations. Bio-Rad employs more than 5,000 people worldwide and has grown to over $1 billion in revenues.
Schwartz grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to attend college after serving in World War II as part of the Army Signal Corps.
He met his wife in a class at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a degree in chemistry and she earned a degree in biochemistry. The idea that would launch Bio-Rad came about during a student bridge game in early 1952. The Schwartzes and other bridge players joked about products that should be available but weren’t on the market, such as tobacco mosaic virus, which Alice was using for scientific research and required many days to prepare. Schwartz questioned why no one was manufacturing it and an idea popped into his head. Why not create the tobacco mosaic virus ourselves and sell it to researchers? he thought. Researchers could save days of prep work with the virus prepared for them in advance and would be able to begin their research projects immediately.
The following day, the Schwartzes put the idea into motion by searching their Berkeley neighborhood for a site to launch a company that would provide products and tools to researchers. Once they found a suitable site, they sent away for tobacco seeds and soon had a crop of tobacco. Once the tobacco mosaic virus was ready to be shipped, the couple came upon a stumbling block: they discovered that the world was not eagerly awaiting tobacco mosaic virus. But they persisted and over the coming years they developed other more marketable research products that helped the company survive and grow.
Schwartz was named a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2003 and the organization presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award the same year. Schwartz has cofounded and served on the boards of several companies, but his primary focus over the years has been fostering the growth of Bio-Rad. Company headquarters are in Hercules, California, and it has offices and manufacturing sites located around the world.
About Pittcon
Pittcon is the largest and most inclusive conference and exposition on laboratory science and instrumentation in the world. The annual event brings together more than 30,000 conferees and exhibitors from more than 70 countries. The Pittcon Heritage Award is presented annually at a special ceremony during Pittcon. The recipient's name and achievements are added to a roster of Pittcon Hall of Fame members, including such industry pioneers as Arnold Beckman, Robert Finnigan, Chester Fisher, Aaron Martin, James Waters, and others.
About the Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Chemical Heritage Foundation 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 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; maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; and encourages research in its collections.
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