William J. Rutter is often referred to as the “father of biotechnology”—and for good reason.

Rutter, an alum of the U, was instrumental in developing the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), into a major scientific institution and facilitating the growth of a vibrant biotechnology industry in the Bay Area. He was recruited to UCSF in 1968 as chair of its then-new Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and introduced a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to research. His lab made key contributions to developing recombinant DNA technology to produce insulin and other hormones from yeast. This process is now used to manufacture insulin worldwide and has been used to develop vaccines particularly against Hepatitis B and other diseases.

In 1981, he co-founded and chaired Chiron Corporation, a pioneering biotech firm that developed, in collaboration with Merck, the first recombinant DNA-based vaccine for Hepatitis B. He was the first to sequence the HIV genome. And he and his group discovered, cloned and sequenced the Hepatitis C virus, providing a pathway to diagnostic tests and treatments for these diseases. Quantitative tests developed by Chiron for all three diseases are now used worldwide to ensure the safety of blood and blood products for clinical use. Chiron was eventually acquired by Novartis and Rutter served for a time on its board of directors.

In 1982, Rutter was appointed director of the university’s Hormone Research Institute, a position he held until his retirement in 1991. He retains the title of Herzstein Professor of Biochemistry, Emeritus. During his academic career, Rutter authored or co-authored more than 381 scientific articles. He holds 26 patents.

After retiring from UCSF, Rutter joined Chiron full time, serving as a spokesman and developer of the biotechnology industry. In 1999, he founded Synergenics LLC to develop complementary approaches to diagnosis, prevention and treatment of infectious and metabolic diseases. Each of these distinct approaches is set up for a separate company, and Synergenics assists these start-ups with direct leadership, financial support, shared space and administrative services.

Rutter has co-founded and served on the boards of several other biotech companies, including Cytokinetics and Sangamo Biosciences. He served as a senior trustee of the Carnegie Institution for Science and was a member of the Board of Overseers at Harvard University. He currently serves as board chairman of eight different biotech companies operating under the auspices of Synergenics. He is also co-founder, with James Spudich, and chairman of Kainomyx, a company focused on development of vaccines and drugs for malaria and other eukaryotic diseases that have no current effective treatments.

Rutter has received many awards for his contributions to the biotechnology industry. He was inducted into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame, and UCSF named a research center in his honor at its Mission Bay campus. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from the University of Utah and a doctoral degree from the University of Illinois, all in biochemistry. He conducted postdoctoral work at the University of Wisconsin and at the Nobel Institute in Sweden. He has received honorary doctor of science degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin.

Rutter was born and raised in Malad, Idaho, and currently lives in San Francisco.