Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw will be conferred with the 2014 Othmer Gold Medal, the top award of US-based Chemical Heritage Foundation. Acknowledging her outstanding contribution to the Indian biotech sector, Carsten Reinhardt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Chemical Heritage Foundation said, “Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was the first woman to become a brew master in India. Then she used her knowledge of fermentation to become one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history of her nation. In addition to her great success in business, she is among the world’s leading philanthropists. She has devoted much of her personal fortune to providing healthcare to the poorest people in her country and to many other philanthropic projects.”
She will be the 20th recipient of the Othmer Gold Medal and the third woman to receive CHF’s most coveted award. CHF established the Othmer Gold Medal in 1997 to honour outstanding individuals who have made multifaceted contributions to chemical and scientific heritage through outstanding activity in such areas as innovation, entrepreneurship, research, education, public understanding, legislation, or philanthropy.
Expressing her delight, Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon said, “I feel privileged to receive this prestigious honour and join the distinguished list of previous recipients like James Watson, Ahmed Zawail, Robert Langer and many others from whom I have drawn great inspiration and deeply admired.”
EP News Bureau – Mumbai
