Jack B. Jewett, President & CEO of the Flinn Foundation, will be honored with the Jon W. McGarity Arizona Bioscience Leader of the Year Award by the Arizona BioIndustry Association.
“Great leaders embrace possibilities and take the steps to make them reality. Jack B. Jewett has done more than just take steps,” shared Joan Koerber-Walker, President & CEO, of the Arizona Bioindustry Association. “Thanks to his leadership and the commitment of the Flinn Foundation, Arizona has a Bioscience Roadmap that charts our statewide bioscience strategies through 2025.”
A longtime Arizona leader in health care, education, and public policy, Mr. Jewett joined the Flinn Foundation in June 2009 as President & CEO. In this role, he is responsible for all grant programs and operations of the Flinn Foundation including Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap, which is the longest running bioscience strategic initiative of its kind in the US. Under Jewett’s leadership, Flinn has renewed its commitment and released the next generation of the Roadmap extending out until 2025.
Mr. Jewett previously served in a variety of leadership roles within the private, public, and nonprofit sectors in Arizona for more than 40 years. He held senior public policy and government relations positions with Tucson Medical Center for 13 years and served as president of Territorial Newspapers, a family-owned publishing and printing company in Tucson. He served on the Arizona Board of Regents from 1998-2006, including a term as president; and five terms in the Arizona House of Representatives, from 1983-1992, the final two years as majority whip.
A University of Arizona graduate, Mr. Jewett currently serves on the board of trustees of the Tucson-based Thomas R. Brown Foundations, is a public member of the Arizona Judicial Council, and is a member of the Greater Phoenix Leadership Council. He served on the board of directors for the National Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges from 2004-13, and received its Distinguished Service Award for outstanding trusteeship for his work on “Changing Directions,” an initiative of the Arizona Board of Regents.
The Flinn Foundation is a privately endowed, philanthropic grantmaking organization established in 1965 by Dr. Robert S. and Irene P. Flinn to improve the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations. Today, the Foundation supports the advancement of the biosciences in Arizona, as well as three other program areas to help build Arizona’s knowledge-driven economy.
A ceremony honoring Jack B. Jewett will take place at the AZBio Awards Sept. 17 at the Phoenix Convention Center. The AZBio Awards ceremony celebrates Arizona’s leading educators, innovators and companies. Each year, AZBio honors bioindustry leaders from across the state of Arizona who are illustrative of the depth, breadth and expertise of our bioscience industry.
Past recipients of the Jon W. McGarity Arizona Bioscience Leader of the Year Award include: Linda Hunt (Dignity Health), Harry George (Solstice Capital), Robert Penny, MD, PhD (International Genomics Consortium), Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD (NantHealth), Martin L. Shultz (Pinnacle West Capital Corp.), Michael Cusanovich, Ph.D., (University of Arizona), Jonathan Thatcher (Exeter Life Sciences), John W. Murphy (Flinn Foundation), and George Poste (Arizona State University).
For registration and more information, go to www.azbio.awards.com.
