Elliott D. Hillback, Jr., Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs (retired), Genzyme

Elliott D. Hillback Jr. is recently retired from his position as senior vice president, corporate affairs, of Genzyme Corporation. He has more 30 years' experience in the health care and biotechnology industry, including almost 16 years at Genzyme. Initially responsible for corporate development and Genzyme Japan, Hillback then served as president of Genzyme's genetic testing business for five years, growing it from $5 million to more than $50 million in revenue, before moving to his current role in 1996. As a member of Genzyme's senior management team reporting to the CEO, Hillback's primary responsibilities include all investor, public, and employee communications groups and functions, the Genzyme Foundation, and the European government/corporate affairs office.

Hillback is very active in the development of industry and public policy related to genetic testing and the use and growth of biotechnology. Hillback is a board member of the Genetic Alliance, an international organization of more than 600 advocacy groups that represent the interests of millions of individuals with genetic conditions. He is also a board member of the Biotechnology Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on improving public education about biotechnology. He is a member and past chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization's (BIO) Ethics Committee and was a member of the Human Genome Project's Task Force on Genetic Testing. He served as an appointed member of Health and Human Services Secretary Thompson's Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing (SAC-GT). He is an active scholarship fundraiser for the Biomedical Science Careers Project, which provides minority students the support needed to successfully pursue careers in the biomedical sciences. He is also a member of the Whitehead Institute Board of Advisors, the Cornell University Life Sciences Advisory Board, and the Advisory Board of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management Center for Biotechnology.

Active in the social sciences at Cornell, Hillback recently helped create a new undergraduate course Anthropology for the Real World. Hillback has a B.A. in anthropology from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He served as a field artillery officer in Vietnam. He is married and has three adult children. An avid photographer and lifelong music fan, he has an extensive jazz and Grateful Dead collection.