New TSRI Trustees Include Two Faculty Members, San Diego Business and Community Leader

At a recent meeting, the Board of Trustees of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) elected three new members—including, for the first time, two members of the faculty.

The new trustees are: Patrick Griffin, chair of TSRI’s Department of Molecular Therapeutics on the Florida campus, Linda Sherman, professor on TSRI’s California campus, and Edward J. (Sandy) Sanderson, Jr., a San Diego business and community leader. 

“I am delighted to welcome Sandy, Pat and Linda to the Board,” said Chair of the TSRI Board of Trustees Richard Gephardt. “I look forward to working with them as we continue to strengthen the institute’s position as a leader in biomedical research and graduate education.” 

Jim Paulson, acting president and CEO of TSRI, said, “The addition of faculty members to the Board represents a significant step in the evolution of TSRI’s governance. Congratulations to Pat and Linda, who bring both leadership skills and their perspectives as distinguished scientists to the Board, and Sandy, who brings insights from his many accomplishments in business and nonprofit organizations.”

The faculty Board members were elected through a process involving nomination of candidates from the California and Florida campuses by TSRI faculty, submission of candidates by the president to the Board’s Governance Committee, and selection by the Committee of one faculty member from each campus for presentation to the full Board for a vote.

PATRICK GRIFFIN 

Currently chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics, Griffin is director of Scripps Florida’s Translational Research Institute and a member of the Scripps Florida Steering Committee. A graduate of Syracuse University (BS) and the University of Virginia (PhD), Griffin conducted postdoctoral work at California Institute of Technology then held senior positions at Merck.

At Scripps Florida, Griffin and his team conduct research relevant to cancer, and metabolic and autoimmune disorders using a variety of structural and chemical biology approaches and techniques.

Griffin serves on the board of directors of Canada’s Centre for Drug Research and Development, serves on the board of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, and is an editor for the Journal of Molecular Biology.

For more information, see Griffin’s faculty web page and his laboratory website. 

LINDA SHERMAN

Recently elected chair of the Faculty Council of TSRI, Sherman is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) with postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. Sherman has been conducting basic research in immunology at TSRI for more than 35 years.

Her lab examines the immune system's basic strategy of discriminating between "self" and "non-self" through T lymphocytes, seeking to augment their ability to respond to certain self-antigens on tumor cells and to diminish their aberrant destruction of self-tissue in autoimmune diseases.

Sherman is currently president of the American Association of Immunologists, and has served on numerous advisory boards for government and non-profit institutions, as well as several biotech companies.

For more information, see Sherman’s faculty page and laboratory website. 

EDWARD SANDERSON 

Sanderson has more than 35 years of senior-level business experience in key executive and board-level positions for public and private companies, as well as in the San Diego non-profit community.       

He is currently the chairman of the board of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and previously served as lead director for Quantum Corporation (NYSE:QTM). He has also served on the boards of smaller private companies and non-profit organizations, including Rancho Santa Fe Foundation and Pacific Ridge School, where he was chairman and a founding trustee.

Sanderson retired from Oracle Corporation in 2002, at which time he was executive vice president. Previously, he was president of Unisys Worldwide Services and partner at both McKinsey & Company and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.) and George Washington University (M.S. in administration), Sanderson also served as a line officer in the U.S. Navy. 

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