Board of Directors
Mr. Nick BedfordChairman
Mr. Bedford brings his expertise in business and finance to Zymeworks, after serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors of ActiveState Corporation, up to the time of its acquisition by Sophos UK. Additionally in the past, he has held senior positions at UBS Warburg, including the Frankfurt-based role as Head of German Equities. In this position he oversaw all sales and sales trading of equity products, and was responsible for the merger of UBS Germany's equity business with SBC Warburg. Prior to this he was with UBS' Securities division in Zurich, Tokyo, and London. Mr. Bedford holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from King's College, London University.
Mr. Haig Farris LL.D.
In 1972, Mr. Farris was one of the co-founding members and partners of the Ventures West Management group of venture capital funds, the largest venture capital pool in western Canada. Venture management experience includes finding, financing and developing high-technology startups and corporate turn-around opportunities. Since 1990, he has been President of Fractal Capital Corp., a private venture capital company financing high technology start-ups and resource service technology companies.
Mr. Farris holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics & English) University of British Columbia, a Law Degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from UBC.
Dr. Patrick McCroskey Ph.D.
Dr. McCroskey is a Principal at TPG Growth, LLC, in Alternative Energy & Chemicals. Most recently, Dr. McCroskey served as the Chief Financial Officer of Ceres Inc., where he successfully raised $75 million through a private offering of convertible preferred stock. He was previously the Vice President of Business Development at Diversa Corporation (now Verenium), a world-class enzyme Company based in San Diego California, and has also served as the Vice President of Finance and Strategic Planning for Intarsia Corporation, a joint venture between The Dow Chemical Company and Flextronics International. He has also held various technical and business positions during his earlier 10-year tenure with The Dow Chemical Company. Dr. McCroskey has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. Ali Tehrani Ph.D.President & CEO, Zymeworks Inc.
Dr. Tehrani is one of Zymeworks' co-founders and currently serves as President and CEO of the company. He has been an integral part of many of the Company's corporate achievements including raising seed and angel financing and overseeing the Company's technical operations and patent filings. Dr. Tehrani holds both Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, and has a Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia. While completing his PhD degree he co-founded the Student Biotechnology Network, for which he received the UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2002. Dr. Tehrani also serves on the MITACS Industrial Advisory Board, and BIOTECanada's Industrial and Environmental Committee.
Dr. Andrew S. Wright Ph.D.
Dr. Wright is the former co-founder and CTO of Datum Telegraphic Inc. and recently director of wireless and signal processing product research, and manager of IP management at PMC-Sierra.
Dr. Wright graduated from the University of Hull, England in 1986 with a first class honors B.Sc. and DipEng and subsequently in 1990 with a PhD in Microwave Engineering (meteorology). Upon emigration to Canada he joined the advanced technology division of Novatel Communications. In 1992 he joined MPR Teltech in Burnaby, and in 1995 co-founded Datum Telegraphic a company specializing in signal processing solutions for third generation wireless systems. After the company's acquisition by PMC-Sierra , his attention was focused on developing and sustaining wireless technology development.
Recently he has relinquished his role at PMC to join Zymeworks as a director under the auspices of Pharos Capital, an early stage VCC.
Mr. Amos Michelson MBA
Mr. Amos Michelson was the CEO of Creo Inc. from 1995 to 2005. He joined Creo in 1991 and, prior to his appointment as CEO, served in senior positions including Vice President Business Strategy, Managing Director, and Chairman of the Board.
Before joining Creo, Mr. Michelson was the CEO of Opal, Inc., a semi-conductor equipment company, and COO of Optrotech Ltd., a developer and manufacturer of optical and imaging systems for the electronics industry. Mr. Michelson is a past member of the British Columbia Premier’s Technology Council. In 1999, together with Dan Gelbart (co-founder of Creo Inc.), he was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® and in 2005 was recognized as the British Columbia Technology Industry Association’s “Person of the Year”.
Mr. Michelson holds an MBA from the Stanford Business School and a BSEE from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and serves on the boards of Genologics Life Science Software Inc., Sirius Genomics Inc., Cogent Health Solutions and multiple other start-ups.