Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Names Derek Rapp Chief Operating Officer
Seasoned executive brings nonprofit leadership, life sciences expertise, and deep St. Louis roots to independent plant science institute.
ST. LOUIS, MO (May 18, 2026)—The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced the appointment of Derek Rapp as Chief Operating Officer. Rapp joins the Danforth Center from RiverVest Venture Partners, where he served as a managing director focused on investment strategy, operations, and life sciences innovation. He will assume his new role this summer.
Rapp brings more than four decades of executive leadership spanning nonprofit management, venture capital, entrepreneurship, and mergers and acquisitions. From 2014 to 2019, he served as president and chief executive officer of JDRF International (now known as Breakthrough T1D), the world's largest private nonprofit funder of type 1 diabetes research, overseeing more than 700 employees and approximately 70 chapters nationwide. During his tenure, he drove the organization to its strongest financial performance in more than a decade, with operational revenues exceeding $200 million annually, and led the creation of the T1D Fund, the world's largest disease-specific venture philanthropy fund.
Earlier in his career, after 12 years in various roles with Monsanto Company (now Bayer Crop Science), Rapp served as chief executive officer of Divergence, Inc., a life sciences startup he led through a successful acquisition by Monsanto. He subsequently returned to Monsanto as head of mergers and acquisitions. In his two stints at Monsanto, he oversaw transactions totaling more than $7 billion. He began his career in mergers and acquisitions at Lazard Freres & Co. in New York.
Rapp is a familiar presence in the St. Louis civic and scientific community, with ties to the Danforth Center spanning more than two decades. He previously served as chair of the Danforth Center Friends Committee and considered the Center's founding chair, the late Dr. William H. Danforth, a mentor. He also served as chair of the Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation and currently serves on the boards of Cortex Innovation Community, the Cancer Research Foundation, Research!America, and WeedOUT, of which he is board chair.
“The Danforth Center is doing essential work, translating plant science into real-world solutions for food security, sustainability, and human health," said Rapp. "I have long admired this institution and the vision of Bill Danforth, who believed deeply that science could be a force for good. I am honored to join Giles and this exceptional team at such an important moment. The Center has been great since its inception 28 years ago and is now among the premier plant science institutions in the world. I look forward to helping the Center achieve its full impact.”
“Derek's appointment is a tremendous step forward for the Danforth Center,” said Giles Oldroyd, PhD, president of the Danforth Center. “He has strategic vision, operational discipline, a passion for mission-driven science and empathy. He has led complex organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, where he has cultivated partnerships and cultures of excellence to accelerate mission work and business success. I look forward to working with him to deliver the Danforth mission, sustainable food security, in a thriving local ecosystem.”
Rapp holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an A.B. from Brown University. He is a St. Louis native and resides in the area with his wife, Emily.
About the Danforth Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is the largest independent nonprofit dedicated to plant science in the world. With a mission to improve the human condition through plant science, the Center conducts plant science research to feed people and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance our region as a world center for plant science. For more information, visit danforthcenter.org
Media Contact: Kristina DeYong | Public Information Officer, Danforth Center | kdeyong@danforthcenter.org