DR. HERBERT BOYER, CO-FOUNDER OF GENENTECH, TO SPEAK AT PITT'S 2000 COMMENCEMENT

PITTSBURGH, March 31 -- Herbert W. Boyer, a University of Pittsburgh graduate who co-founded Genentech, Inc., the company considered the pioneer in the field of biotechnology, will be the main speaker at the University of Pittsburgh's 2000 commencement ceremonies beginning at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 30, in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.

After receiving his bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from St. Vincent's College in Latrobe, Boyer studied bacteriology at Pitt, earning a Ph.D. in 1963. After three years at Yale University as a postdoctoral fellow in microbial genetics, Boyer accepted a teaching and research position at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco.

In the early 1970s, Boyer and geneticist Stanley Cohen launched a new scientific field called recombinant DNA technology, or gene splicing. Genentech was founded in 1976, by Boyer and venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson. Headquartered in San Francisco, the biotechnology company is a leader in using human genetic information to develop, manufacture and market pharmaceuticals.

Boyer remains a director of Genentech and is professor emeritus of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California at San Francisco.

Boyer, who serves as an advisor to the Biotechnology Center at Pitt, has won the National Medal of Technology, the National Medal of Science and, with Cohen, the Lemelson-MIT Prize, given for American invention and innovation. Among his many honors and activities, Boyer has served on the editorial boards of several technical journals, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and is in the California Inventors Hall of Fame.

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