Philip Needleman, Ph.D.

Dr. Philip Needleman
Interim President and Chief Executive Officer
St. Louis Science Center

Philip Needleman is currently Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Louis Science Center. Previously, he served as Interim President of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (2010-2011) following the appointment of Roger Beachy to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Dr. Needleman has been a member of the Danforth Center's Board of Trustees since 2005. He spent 25 years at Washington University School of Medicine, where he was Professor, Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology, and Associate Dean for Special Projects. During his time at Washington University, he was selected Basic Science Teacher of the Year five times.

In 1989, Dr. Needleman moved to industry, becoming Chief Scientist of Monsanto. In 1993, he became President of Searle Research and Development. He was also Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist of Pharmacia from 2000 to 2003. He is currently a scientific partner with Prospect Venture Partners (San Francisco). Dr. Needleman is a member of the National Academy of Science and was elected to the NAS Council Board of Trustees in 2004. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine. In 2002, he was appointed Special Advisor to the President for Research and Development at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and has joined the University's Advisory Committee for the creation of a National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev.

Dr. Needleman is on the Washington University Board of Trustees, as well as a member of the boards of the St. Louis Science Center, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Plant and Life Sciences Coalition. He is the recipient of many awards and honors including the National Academy of Science Award for the Industrial Application of Research, the NYU Applied Biotechnology Award, the John Jacob Abel Award of the American Pharmacology Society, Research Achievement Award from the American Heart Association, Washington University's Distinguished Faculty Award, Washington University Medical School Second Century Award, C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Industrial Institute Medal and the American Society of Experimental Therapeutics Award.