Bestowed by the Chemical Heritage Foundation.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Biocon Ltd. Chairwoman and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named the recipient of the 2014 Othmer Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed on an individual by the Chemical Heritage Foundation in the United States.
Mazumdar-Shaw will receive the award at a ceremony in Philadelphia in March. The Chemical Heritage Foundation, established in 1982 to preserve and advance the study of chemistry for posterity and future generations, is based in the city, where it has a museum, library, and archive. Previous winners of the award, which is now in its 20th year, include James D. Watson, Ralph Landau, and Robert Langer. Mazumdar-Shaw is the third woman to win the prize in its history.
“Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was the first woman to become a brewmaster in India,” said Carsten Reinhardt, president and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, in a press statement. “Then she used her knowledge of fermentation to become one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history of her nation. In addition to her great success in business, she is among the world’s leading philanthropists. She has devoted much of her personal fortune to providing healthcare to the poorest people in her country and to many other philanthropic projects.”
Additionally, the Chemical Heritage Foundation notes credit Mazumdar-Shaw’s leadership with making Biocon a “well-recognized global brand.” The company, based in Bangalore, is the largest insulin maker in India, and distributes pichia-based human insulin to clients in over 40 countries around the world.
Originally from Bangalore, Mazumdar-Shaw became a Managing Director at Biocon in 1978, operating out of her home garage with just two other employees. Today, the company has over 5,000 employees and records annual revenue north of $250 million (Rs. 15.55 billion) as of 2012.
In addition to the Othmer Gold Medal, Mazumdar-Shaw has won the 2009 Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth, the 2009 Express Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit Award, the Economic Times Businesswoman of the Year award, and has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1989 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005, two of the highest civilian honors in India.