Mintz’s successful career enables gift

Dr. Gilbert R. Mintz’s motivation, hard work and accomplishments in the biotechnology industry have enabled him to endow the Dr. Gilbert R. Mintz Scholarship, which will provide financial assistance to University of Pittsburgh at Bradford students studying natural sciences, such as biology, chemistry and physical science. 

Mintz said he hoped that this scholarship will ease the financial burden for students who want to pursue a career in the sciences. “I am fortunate and pleased to be able to give back to the school that gave me the opportunity to attend college,” he said.

To donate to the Mintz scholarship or for more information on setting up a scholarship at Pitt-Bradford, contact Joelle Warner, director of major gifts and stewardship, at jaw104@pitt.edu or 814-362-5104 or visit givetoupb.org online.  

When Mintz attended Pitt-Bradford in 1969-1971, the industry in which he would find success did not yet exist. He grew up in Bradford, graduating from Bradford High School in 1969. He was active in sports – playing baseball and running cross-country. He was MVP of the track team in his senior year in high school. His father was a chemist at Dresser Manufacturing, working on the rubber gaskets used in the industry-standard Dresser couplings that join lengths of pipe in oil and gas fields.

Like so many of his generation, Mintz’s father earned his college degree through the GI Bill, a program that provided money for education and training to military veterans. He was also active in the local chapters of the American Chemical Society and Lions Club. His mother was a homemaker and sold Avon beauty products. His family were active members of the First Presbyterian Church.

“I knew in 7th grade that I wanted in a career in the sciences and that chemistry was a particular interest,” Mintz aid. “My father encouraged me to get as much education as possible. He motivated me to set my sights on a Ph.D. in chemistry while I was still very young.”

Mintz was determined to pay for as much of his college education as possible. Attending Pitt-Bradford enabled him to live at home and only pay for tuition and books. He wanted to complete his undergraduate and graduate programs without school loans. He combined school and work during much of his academic career to accomplish this goal. He worked weekends at what was at the time the Holiday Inn in Bradford. During the summers he added jobs at Kendall Refining and Dresser, and he mowed lawns.

At Pitt-Bradford he was fortunate to learn chemistry from Drs. Rudy and June Pfister. But since Pitt-Bradford was not yet a four-year degree-granting institution, Mintz transferred to the Pittsburgh campus, earning his baccalaureate degree cum laude in December 1973. Attending the Pittsburgh campus opened a new world of opportunities leading to a series of fortunate choices that began with majoring in chemistry and working in biochemistry labs at Pitt.

After learning about genetic information (DNA) and proteins, Mintz was hooked on studying biochemistry to combine his chemistry background with biological sciences. He was deeply interested in health and found it fascinating to work on projects studying how abnormal genes and proteins cause disease. After finishing studies at Pitt, Mintz knew that this new area of research – using chemistry and drugs to target specific biological pathways and improve patients’ health -- would be his focus in graduate school.

In 1979, he earned his doctoral degree in biochemistry at Washington University in St. Louis, learning about glycoproteins and their role as therapeutics and in disease. At that time, there wasn’t a strong biotechnology community, so Ph.D. graduates from top universities mainly trained for careers in academic training and research.  As a result, he pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore to further study proteins crucial in the emerging area. 

Feeling stifled in academia, Mintz did not want to be constrained by the formalities of his academic training. “We all come to a fork in the road in our working career, and which fork you take is important,” he said of life choices. Recognizing that some doors close and others open, he added, “I’ve been very fortunate to take the right forks in the road. I followed my curiosity and passions, had some luck and used good common sense.”

Mintz left academia for corporate research but was soon asked to work with a marketing and sales team to explain the science of products being developed. He said he will never forget the marketing folks telling him that he “now had a real job.”

“This new role married my interest in business and investments with my love of science,” he said. He never returned to the lab. “I leveraged the marketing and sales jobs into a move to San Diego to work with start-up biotechnology companies in various business development roles.” 

He is especially interested in partnering biotech companies’ early-stage drug candidates as licensing opportunities for funding and further clinical development by pharmaceutical companies. He began negotiating deals and helping start-up biotech firms find investors to turn research into marketed medicines.

Moving from San Diego to San Francisco, the hub of the biotechnology industry, was another key career move. After 15 years of increasing responsibilities as a corporate officer in public and private biotechnology companies, he struck out on his own in 1999, forming a consulting company. His company negotiates contracts and corporate collaborations between biotech or pharmaceutical companies and other organizations. He also negotiates clinical development agreements for companies partnering with universities on clinical trials.

Mintz served for 10 years as treasurer on the board of the Sutter Health Mills Peninsula Hospital Foundation, where he was chairperson of the finance committee. In addition, he has been president of his homeowner’s association in California for 15 years.

Originally from the east coast, both Mintz and his wife, Barbara M. Berk, a sculptor, have enjoyed and benefited from entrepreneurial opportunities in California.

“I have more fun now because every day I use my science, business and legal skills,” he said. And there may be another reason. He’s enjoying using his earnings to give back. Mintz has pledged to continue donating to the scholarship fund he established, up to at least $100,000. The inaugural scholarship will be awarded to a student this fall.

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