4 minutes with… David Rozzell, CEO, Sustainable Chemistry Solutions

Tell us about your company and it’s role in the Advanced Bioeconomy.

Publish guide books and competitive intelligence products focused on the enzyme industry. The Enzyme Company Guide and The Biocatalysis Company Guide contain profiles of companies in those industries worldwide. Also provide consulting and expert witness services and customized research.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

Technology is now enabling the development and optimization of both enzymes and pathways for a wide range of chemical products. One of my goals is to support the expanding role of biocatalysis and synthetic biology in manufacturing chemical products, and I continually look for ways to provide useful information to companies and individuals working in those areas. Recently I began offering free webinars to supplement the books and publications that I make available. I am looking into making the database available online via a subscription web site. Overall, by compiling and keeping current the large amount of information on companies and products in the enzyme and biocatalysis industries I want to help companies save time and money in making decisions about which activities/products to focus on.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?  

Further expanding the range of enzyme chemistry platforms available

Improving the quality of the enzyme that are readily available to support immediate production needs.

Increasing the speed of enzyme evolution and optimization

Solving the challenges with certain enzyme chemistries such as oxidations

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change? 

I would like to see greater acceptance of biocatalysis by organic chemists

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you?  

Importance of sustainable manufacturing long-term

Where are you from? 

Born and raised in a small town in Tennessee

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway?

Undergraduate BS in Chemistry from University of Virginia

PhD in Chemistry from Harvard University

Who do you consider your mentors – could be personal, business, or just people you have read about and admire. What have you learned from them?

First CEO I worked for, Gabe Schmergel at Genetics Institute was great example of how to delegate responsibility and treat people well, even when making difficult decisions such as lay-offs.

What’s the biggest lesson you ever learned during a period of adversity?  

Never, never, under any circumstances, ever give up (Channeling Winston Churchill here)

What hobbies do you pursue, away from your work in the industry?

Duplicate bridge

What are 3 books you’d want to have with you, if you were stranded on a desert island

3 Books on Hunting, Fishing, and Survival!

What books or articles are on your reading list right now, or you just completed and really enjoyed?  

A Textbook on Metabolic Engineering

Collected Writings and Quotations of Mark Twain

What’s your favorite city or place to visit, for a holiday?

London is my favorite city on the planet. Best English-language theater in the world.