MOVIES

PITTSBURGH -- The Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), a partnership to put the region's life sciences industry on a fast track for growth, announced today it has named Secretary-Treasurer Donald F. Smith, Jr. Ph.D., its interim chief executive officer as it commences a national search to fill the position permanently. The position became open when Dennis Yablonsky, the organization's initial CEO, was selected by Governor Edward Rendell to serve Pennsylvania as Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). "Don was a key member of the team that conceived of and created the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse," said D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D., President and CEO of Cellomics and a PLSG board member. "Under Don's leadership in this period of transition, we're confident that the PLSG team will continue to perform to the high standards they have set for themselves and work to achieve their primary business objective, which is to grow our region's life sciences economy." Mr. Smith has a wide variety of work experience in the field of regional economics, beginning his career in economic development with the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. After earning his bachelor's degree in economics at Harvard, he was a strategic projects coordinator at the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce from 1986 to 1988 and was the lead analyst for the state's economic development strategy, Investing in Pennsylvania's Future. After earning his Ph.D. in public policy at Carnegie Mellon in 1994, Smith worked for RAND's Critical Technologies Institute in Washington, D.C. "Don is one of those rare people who have demonstrated a keen understanding of how the business and academic communities can work together to tap each others' strengths and actually create economic opportunity," said Dennis Yablonsky, outgoing President and Chief Executive Officer of the PLSG. "His balance, talent and insights will enable him to keep the PLSG's momentum going strong during this critical period in the organization's young history." Mr. Smith returned to Pittsburgh in June 1995 to direct CMU's Center for Economic Development and to teach economic development to students at the university. From 1998 through 1999, he was President of the PA Design Complex Development Corporation, which became the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse. And since 2000, he played a lead role in the team that formed the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and is Secretary/Treasurer of the organization's board. Currently, he is the University Director of Economic Development for both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University and Vice President for Economic Development of MPC Corporation. "After working closely with Don on numerous matters, I have gained a great deal of respect for what he is able to accomplish by drawing upon both his academic training and business experience," said Maxwell King, Executive Director of the Heinz Endowments and a PLSG board member. Mr. Smith is Vice Chairman of the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County, and he serves on the boards of directors of Innovation Works, the Regional Industrial Development Corporation, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the Idea Foundry, the First Tee of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP). A national search for permanent chief executive officer will commence shortly by a small sub-committee of the board, chaired by D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D., President and CEO of Cellomics.