Flinn Foundation board adds biotech investment executive

April 21, 2008

By hammersmith

Flinn Foundation news release

Shaun KirkpatrickThe Flinn Foundation has elected Shaun A. Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of Research Corporation Technologies (RCT), to its governing board. RCT is a Tucson-based technology investment and management company with assets of more than $300 million that provides early-stage funding and development for promising biomedical companies and technologies.

Since joining RCT as a venture development associate in 1993, Kirkpatrick has managed venture investments and technology development programs in the fields of cancer, inflammation, metabolic disease, and neurological disorders, and technology platforms related to biotherapeutics and antibodies. He oversees RCT’s BioVentures investments, technology development programs, and special licensing programs in North America, Europe, and Australia.

“As we work to help Arizona’s leaders implement the recommendations of Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap, this board will be well served by Shaun Kirkpatrick’s rare combination of scientific knowledge and investment expertise,” said David J. Gullen, M.D., chair of the Flinn Foundation board of directors. “We will also benefit from his community leadership and his long acquaintance with the Foundation.”

Kirkpatrick becomes the first Flinn Foundation board member from outside Maricopa County. He is also the first alumnus of the Flinn Scholars Program to serve on the board. As a member of the program’s second class in 1987, he used his scholarship to earn undergraduate degrees in biology and economics from the University of Arizona in 1991. Kirkpatrick received a master of arts degree in international relations, with concentrations in economics and science and technology, from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and Bologna, Italy. He also studied at the London School of Economics.

Kirkpatrick serves on the board of several companies in RCT’s BioVentures investment portfolio and also is a board member of the Critical Path Institute in Tucson.

“I look forward to helping the Flinn Foundation advance its many important programs for Arizona, including those in the biosciences,” Kirkpatrick said. “It is a privilege to serve on this board and to participate in furthering the philanthropic legacy of Dr. and Mrs. Flinn.”

The Flinn Foundation was established by Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Flinn in 1965 with the mission of improving the quality of life in Arizona. The nonprofit philanthropy supports the advancement of Arizona’s bioscience sector, the Flinn Scholars Program for undergraduate studies at an Arizona public university, and arts and culture via the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture.