Press Release – Monday, August 4, 2014

The American Chemical Society Division of Business Development and Management (BMGT) is pleased to announce that Dr. Judith C. Giordan will receive the 2014 Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award for Excellence in Business Development and Management in the Chemical Enterprise.

Judy currently serves on boards of advisors and as founder/senior management in start-up ventures such as Qteros llc; Managing Director of ecosVC, Inc., a training and venture development firm; and, co-founder of the Chemical Angels Network. Her former positions include VP R&D and business leader at Henkel Corporation; Global VP of R&D for Pepsi-Cola and Corporate VP/CTO at International Flavors and Fragrances.

Recipient of the Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal in 2010 and elected an ACS Fellow in 2013, Judy’s past service roles have included membership on the Board of Directors of the Industrial Research Institute and the American Chemical Society; various positions at the National Science Foundation including member of the Math and Physical Sciences Advisory Board, Chair of the Waterman Award Committee and Program Officer for the cross-foundational IGERT program. Judy has also been named several times to Who’s Who and has been cited in numerous publications and magazines for her groundbreaking roles for women in corporate leadership over her 30 year career. A sought after author and speaker, Judy is being recognized with the Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award for her international business development and leadership, entrepreneurship, angel investing and educator roles and as a respected R&D leader underpinned by her development of scientists and engineers, and mentoring of women for leadership positions.

Judy will accept the award and share her insights on Sunday, August 10, 2014 at 5:30 pm, as part of a reception sponsored by BMGT and the Chemical Angel Network scheduled from 3pm - 6pm at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. Judy’s remarks will link her R&D and business experiences as the VP/CTO of several Fortune 500 companies with the value and importance of both commercial development skills for today’s scientists and engineers and diversity, inclusion and mentoring of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM and chemistry.

About the American Chemical Society (ACS)

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 162,000 members, ACS, a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1876, is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

About the ACS Division of Business Development and Management (BMGT)

BMGT is comprised of members from the chemical enterprise around the world. Our mission and vision are to champion business development and management throughout the chemical enterprise, and to be globally recognized as the preferred resource for creating, growing and managing chemical business.

For more information about the Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award please contact Sharon Wilkerson, skw@polychemistry.com

For more information about Judith C. Giordan please contact info@ecosvc.com

Judy was honored to be a speaker at the 2013 HBCU Innovation Summit in Stanford, CA, on October 31, 2013. Her keynote presentation entitled "A Time of Brilliance: Solving Global Challenges using both the Lens of Research and the Lens of the Market" discusses the importance of developing innovators along with innovations, and how embracing diversity is critical for success. There is a personal change process when a researcher elects to take on the additional role of an innovator, and this is simply a new lens, the lens of the market that is added on to the researchers already highly developed lens of research. Developing a vocabulary and gaining knowledge about the market are the first steps in the process, and this is all highly achievable with the right training.

Download the slides here.

Judy Giordan joined the "Bio-based vs. Petroleum: Competing on Price, Performance and Quality" panel at the 4th Annual World Bio Markets USA conference in San Francisco, CA, on October 30. Her presentation "Everything but the Squeal: Maximizing Utility and Adoption of Biobased Chemicals" discusses how we need to move beyond simply talking about invention and start thinking about value chains, supply and demand, and scaling the science. There's a language to innovation and we need to learn it to be successful and really solve the global challenges facing us.

Download the slides here.

Judy was an invited speaker in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Chemical Engineering department's seminar series on October 8, 2013. Her presentation was entitled "A new 21st-century Contact Sport: Solving Global Challenges using both the Lens of Research and the Lens of the Market," and she discussed the necessity for scientists to learn about the innovation process.  This involves embracing a personal change process to learn more and transform from a researcher to an innovator (and this includes more than entrepreneurs!). 

Click to download the slides. 

Judy moderated the STEM Women in Innovation and Investing symposium at the American Chemical Society meeting in Indianapolis, IN, on September 10, 2013.  Her talk at the start of the symposium, "Value Creation... Capturing the Immeasurable  Value Created by Women Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Investors," followed a wonderful introduction by Janet Bryant, Systems & Science Policy Analyst, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Chair, ACS Chemical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council (CIEC).

The panelists in the symposium were leading women scientists, innovators and investors. Kathryn Uhrich, Professor of Chemistry and Former Dean, Rutgers University, and Founder, Polymerix Corporation discussed “Issues women face in research and commercialization from academia: Personal insights from a successful company founder” and Nicola Pohl, Professor of Chemistry and the Joan and Marvin Carmack Chair in Bioorganic Chemistry, Indiana University Bloomington, and Founder, LuCella Biosciences Inc who shared her experiences in “Challenges of starting (and growing) a start-up.” Suzette Dutch, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Triathlon Medical Ventures explained the intricacies of “Attracting Venture Capital for women led businesses – Lessons from 2 decades of venture fund management”. Linda O’Keefe, CFO Consultant, LOK Enterprises and a member of the Chemical Angel Network described the value of angel investments in “Entrepreneur/Angel partnerships to the rescue!!” Mary Phillips, Associate Director, Office for Commercialization and Corporate Development, Oregon State University shared “Challenges and opportunities in technology transfer: How are STEM women faring?”

This ACS symposium was co-sponsored by the following ACS divisions: SCHB, BMGT, WCC and PROF.

Download the slides here.

Judy's thoughts on why bragging is good for women, especially women in STEM, was published on the Huffington Post blog on July 29, 2013. In the article, Judy shared some of her tips as a woman in STEM on how to stand up and proudly declare your achievements: 

• Take charge of your confidence and your conversation.
• Find ways to brag that fit your style and still share the facts.
• Be enthusiastic.
• Or try my personal favorite, the pride angle.

Judy Giordan spoke with Hannah Yates, Research Analyst at Green Power Conferences, about some of the key questions to think about on important developments in bio-based materials.  Judy will be a presenter at the upcoming World Bio Markets USA meeting in San Francisco, October 29-30, 2013, in the "Bio-based vs. Petroleum: Competing on Price, Performance and Quality" symposium during the conference.

Check out Judy's podcast to hear her thoughts on 4 key questions:

1. What do you think has been the most important development of the past 12 months?
2. Strategic partnerships are being announced nearly every week – what do you see as the key factors for integrating bio-based chemicals and materials into an existing company’s supply chain?
3. What are some key points new star-up ventures need to know when approaching a potential strategic partner?
4. What do you think will be the biggest topic of conversation at WBM USA 2013?

Judy Giordan was the featured speaker in the 2013 International Conference on Applied Mathematics, Modeling and Computational Science (AMMCS-2013) special session on Women in Mathematics on August 29, 2013. She kicked off the session with her presentation "The power of diversity: women's leadership in STEM fields. The role of innovators and innovation."

Judy focuses on why developing women innovators and enhancing diversity is key to bringing about the innovations that the world needs. She encourages women to embrace their potential and to succeed and to rely on one another to help everyone move ahead.

Download her slides here, and read the press release from Wilfrid Laurier University - Waterloo campus in Ontario, Canada, where the AMMCS-2013 conference was held. 

Judy gave her talk "Being HEARD - Powered by YOU: Bragging... and Building Your Personal Brand" at the Women Chemists Committee (WCC) breakfast at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in New Orleans on April 8, 2013.

Judy highlighted the true need for empowering women to help solve the global issues we face today.  Women also need to embrace the fact that they need to change in order to take their seat at the table - we have met the enemy and she is us!  Women need to stand up and declare their excellent skills and valuable contributions - don't be afraid to brag and build your personal brand!

Download the slides here!​

Judy moderated the panel "Exit Strategies - Financing to the End Game" at the American Chemical Society Entrepreneur Resources Center Entrepreneur Summit at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in March 2013.  The panel featured Dr. Stephen Flaim of Tech Coast Angels, Dr. Scott Lockledge of Fairbridge Venture Partners, and Dr. Edward Greer of the Venture and Business Development Group of the Dow Chemical Company.

You can watch the presentation here - this panel begins at 01:04:00 of the video.

Watch live streaming video from acswebinars at livestream.com

Download the slides here!​

This short video is comprised of the introduction module from the in-person Lens of the Market workshop, created with funding from the National Science Foundation (CHE #0926490). This workshop is intended to introduce scientists and engineers to a “lens of the market” perspective… to provide you with an opportunity to figure out if you want to use this lens of the market in conjunction with your research lens. Why? In order for you to better determine how the commercial world might benefit from your research. OUR goal with Lens of the Market is to help you develop innovations that can and will be used to help solve important problems for people and the planet.

ACS Webinar, November 1, 2012.  Joseph Steig moderates. "Valuations, term sheets, tranches, waterfall, etc. You learned the language of chemistry, now it is time to learn the language of investing. The experts are here to help!"

* Past ACS Webinars are only viewable by ACS members, login to watch!

Judy is quoted in the October 22, 2012, Chemical & Engineering News article "Chemical Angel Network Funds Chemistry Start-Ups" by Marc Reisch.

Reisch discusses the recently founded Chemical Angel Network (CaN), which specializes in providing seed capital for chemistry-related start-up companies.  Judy is the co-founder of CaN along with Mark Vreeke and Sid White.  In the article Judy points out that while chemistry is essential for many biotechnology, pharmaceutical and energy-related start-ups, "chemistry is not a buzzword today that people love.”  But the time is right for chemistry-related start-ups, and investing in these will help spur the US economy as well as develop the technology we need for a better future.​

ACS Webinar, October 4, 2012.  Judy Giordan moderates.  "Like to develop your entrepreneurial spirit with the resources of a large corporation? Learn how you can be the change agent in your corporation!"

*The recording of this webinar is no longer available online

CSMC Webinar, September 20, 2012.  Judy Giordan moderates.  ​

Securing government funding is often an instrumental part of translating laboratory and academic research into large scale innovations and independent business ventures.  A staggering amount of money is made available for precisely this purpose and programs addressing a wide variety of research initiatives are launched every year.  Of course, the process begins with identifying the appropriate grant opportunities and tailoring your proposal for maximum effectiveness by highlighting your potential for innovation. 

How should a scientist with an exciting idea begin his or her search for government funding opportunities?  What advice can experts offer on drafting an impactful proposal?  What is the expectation of the role of innovation in large government programs?

​Listen to Judy and distinguished panelists Dr. Ilan Gur, Program Director and Senior Advisor for Commercialization, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), and Dr. Ben Schrag, Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF), take live audience questions on ARPA-E, SBIR and other government funding options.

ACS Webinar, September 6, 2012.  Joseph Steig moderates.  "Raising money is the easy part. Anyone can raise ‘fool’s money’. Raising ‘smart money’, that’s the trick. Make sure you know the difference!"

*The recording of this webinar is no longer available online

ACS Live Webinar, August 30, 2012.  Judy Giordan as speaker.  During the ACS National Meeting in Philadelphia in August 2012 Judy was featured in "The Introverts (and Shy Guys and Gals) Guide to Success in Science and Leadership."  Judy advises introverts to accept that they are indeed introverts and that they too can be extremely successful in any career they choose!  A must-see talk for any introvert!

*The recording of this live webinar is no longer available online

Judy moderated a panel at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in Philadelphia, PA in August 2012 titled "Financial Planning, Your Career and YOU: Building Financial Security in an Insecure World."  Sandra Goodstein, CFP, MSFS, CSFA, Managing Principal of Goodstein & Associates, LLC and Karen McIntyre, CFP, Wealth Counselor for United Capital Private Wealth Counseling were the distinguished panelists.  This panel was part of the programming offered by the ACS Women Chemists Committee (WCC) and co-sponsored by the Association for Women in Science (AWIS).

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently published "From Science to Business: Preparing Female Scientists and Engineers for Successful Transitions into Entrepreneurship: Summary of a Workshop."  Judy was on Panel IV, "Alternative Forms of Entrepreneurships in Sustainable Technologies: Intrapreneurship in Corporations and Government, Social Entrepreneurship, and Traditional Entrepreneurship."

ACS Webinar, August 2, 2012.  Joseph Steig moderates.  "You have a great idea and great science, now you need to build a company. Learn about the kind of structures they didn’t teach you in chemistry class!"

* Past ACS Webinars are only viewable by ACS members, login to watch!