Life Sciences Foundation Archives Collections

The Life Sciences Foundation was an American non-profit institution dedicated to the history of the life sciences and biotechnology. Its origins date back to a January 2009 meeting in San Francisco, California involving G. Steven Burrill (owner and CEO of Burrill & Company), Dennis Gillings (founder and CEO of Quintiles IMS Holdings), John Leichleiter (president and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company), and Arnold Thackray (science historian and founding president and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation). At this meeting, the four men discussed the need for an institution to preserve and promote the history of the life sciences and biotechnology.

From plans drawn up as a result of this meeting, a new organization named the Life Sciences Foundation was formally established in San Francisco, California in 2010. Arnold Thackray was named its first president and CEO. According to its mission statement:

"The Life Sciences Foundation is dedicated to capturing the history, preserving the heritage, and sharing the stories of biotechnology. The foundation collects and organizes historical information to educate and inspire future innovators, to engage the general public, and to provide lay audiences with a robust understanding of life sciences and biotechnology."

According to its vision statement:

"The Life Sciences Foundation will be the leading, independent steward of life sciences and biotechnology heritage. The Foundation will act as a trusted translator of biotechnology's extraordinary stories."

Under the leadership of Arnold Thackray (2010-2012) and his successor Heather R. Erickson (2012-2018), the Life Sciences Foundation engaged in a number of activities. The foundation conducted an oral history program, in which staff members interviewed prominent scientists, corporate executives, and entrepreneurs in the life sciences and biotechnology fields. It was also the publisher of several publications, including the periodicals LSF News and LSF Magazine, and the book Honoring 25 Years of Biotech Leadership, The Biotech Hall of Fame Awards (written by Mark Jones, Brian Dick, and Heather Nelson). The Life Sciences Foundation maintained its own website and sponsored a number of promotional events, including receptions, dinners, and symposiums. It was also a sponsor of the Biotech Hall of Fame.

In addition to the activities outlined above and in accordance with its mission and vision statements, the Life Sciences Foundation maintained an archives. The Life Sciences Foundation Archives was established to preserve documentary materials pertaining to the history of the life sciences and biotechnology. It solicited and collected the archival materials of scientists, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and consultants who made lasting contributions in the life sciences and biotechnology fields. Over the course of its existence, the Life Sciences Foundation Archives collected a total of forty-one individual archives collections.

On December 1, 2015, the Life Sciences Foundation merged with the Chemical Heritage Foundation, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based institution devoted to the preservation and promotion of the history of the chemical sciences and chemical engineering. To better reflect its widened scope of interests and activities, the merged organization was renamed the Science History Foundation in February 2018. The Science History Foundation is currently headquartered in Philadelphia, but continues to maintain the former Life Sciences Foundation offices in San Francisco. The Life Sciences Foundation Archives are currently preserved at the Science History Foundation's Philadelphia headquarters.

Sources

Life Sciences Foundation Archives, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Life Sciences Foundation website (preserved on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine) https://web.archive.org/web/20140517220142/http://lifesciencesfoundation.org/

Jones, Mark, Dick, Brian, and Nelson, Heather, Honoring 25 Years of Biotech Leadership; The Biotech Hall of Fame Awards, San Francisco, California: Life Sciences Foundation, 2012.