Director
Mr. Linsert founded Columbia Biosciences Corporation in 2007 to develop new uses for algal fluorescent proteins and new purification technology to improve the performance of proteins and antibodies for therapeutics, diagnostics and biochemical reagents.
Prior to Columbia, Mr. Linsert was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Martek Biosciences Corporation from 1989 to 2006. As CEO he led Martek from being a small private R&D company, to a profitable Nasdaq-listed company with a market capitalization of over $1 billion. In 2006 he also received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® Life Sciences Award for the Washington, DC area and was a national runner-up for the same category. His tenure included construction and operation of multiple new processing facilities for the world’s first production of DHA from micro-algae and ARA from natural fungi, to provide essential Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, and introducing these products to global infant nutrition markets. Today, over 90% of all infant formula sold in the US includes Martek products, and the products are sold in more than 70 countries worldwide. Mr. Linsert retired in 2006 as CEO, remaining as Chairman until mid-2007.
Prior to Martek, Mr. Linsert was primarily engaged in the development and financing of early-stage companies in the Mid-Atlantic area in a variety of roles, including having been CEO of venture capital company Suburban Capital Corp, which was subsequently acquired by Bank of America, and as Vice President of First Virginia Bank. Mr. Linsert also served as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Mr. Linsert received an M.A. in economics from George Washington University in 1970 and a B.A. in economics from Duke University in 1963. In 2009, he was one of the three inductees in the Space Technology Hall of Fame. He currently serves on the review committee of the US National Academies of Sciences for Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.