Some sketchy clues are surfacing concerning the nature of the
search for a new president for the $3 billion California stem cell
agency.
They popped up in an RFP for help from an executive search firm to
find candidates to replace Alan Trounson, who is resigning to return
to his home country of Australia. (He is scheduled to be in Chile this week.)
The RFP contained a “draft” of a description of the job of the
new CEO. It said that the salary could range as high as $548,788
annually with a benefit package that appeared to be negotiable. That
could be important if the new president might come from out-of-state
to California's sky high home prices.
According to the description, the new president should be a
“well-recognized leader.” Notably the description did not specify
that the individual must be a scientist but said the person should
have “scientific credibility.” The individual must have both
“unassailable integrity” and “ a solid reputation for ethics
and integrity and be sufficiently self-possessed to not be perturbed
by criticism or controversy.” The agency also appeared to exclude
candidates from overseas, limiting the search to the United States.
The RFP indicated that the job description might be changed as the
governing board works through its selection process. The board's
Presidential Search Subcommittee will hold its first meeting this Friday, some of which is public.
The RFP also said that “outside time limit” for selection of
the president is six months from the award of the contract, scheduled
for Dec. 16. Responses to the RFP must be submitted no later than
Nov. 26. No price tag was put on the search contract although the
last one in 2009 was budgeted for $100,000. And it did not come up
with Trounson, the person who snagged the job that time around.
Our take? The agency faces several critical decisions in the next
few months, including action on a plan to finance its future since it
runs out of money for new grants in 2017. Also on the table are
decisions on the handful of research projects that it expects to back more strongly in hopes of more successfully promoting
commercialization of stem cell therapies. That is not to mention the
ambitious proposed $70 million Alpha stem cell clinic effort. Assuming six
months to hire a new president and another six months before the
person is actually in place, the new CEO could be well behind the
curve by the time he or she is on the job. While it is three years or
so before money runs out, the reality is that the agency must move
with considerable dispatch to cement its continued existence.
Building support and positive recognition is a long-term project, and
right now the stem cell agency is little known outside of scientific
circles, which are small indeed. Producing something akin to a cure
is also crucial in winning support from lawmakers, the public or the
private sector.
The nine-year-old agency has had only two presidents, not counting
one interim CEO. Selection of those presidents was marked by
considerable difficulties, including divergent views of the CEO role
among board members. However, the need for speed and continuity at
the agency may smooth over some of those rough spots in this latest
presidential search.
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