Following Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Mike Witherell’s announcement earlier today, Schmidt Futures is pleased to welcome Mary Maxon, currently Associate Laboratory Director for Biosciences at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as a Senior Fellow to lead a new effort to seed the next wave of innovation in synthetic biology and the bioeconomy. 

“We bet on exceptional people making the world better,” said Eric Braverman, CEO of Schmidt Futures, “because we believe that brilliant people in networks can solve hard problems by connecting across fields, competing and challenging ideas, bringing multiple types of capital to bear, and applying science and technology thoughtfully through tools such as AI. Mary Maxon, a leader in bioeconomy innovation, is one of those people. We are grateful to Director Witherell and the Berkeley Lab for making it possible for Mary to join us.”

The newly-announced Schmidt Futures effort aims to advance transformative bio-based and bio-enabled applications in areas such as health, clean energy, industry, and agriculture. During the coming year, Maxon will convene and oversee a task force to make recommendations and develop a plan to advance these applications both inside and outside of Schmidt Futures. 

“Mary’s experience across the White House, Berkeley Lab, and other public, private, and philanthropic organizations make her the ideal person to lead our efforts in synthetic biology and the bioeconomy.  We couldn’t be more thrilled to have her on board,” said Elizabeth Young McNally, Executive Vice President and leader of Schmidt Futures’ work applying networks of talent to solve hard problems now. 

You can read more about the announcement from the Berkeley Lab here.