Chemistry professor wins commercialization award

Peter Kissinger  Download Photo

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Peter Kissinger, a professor of chemistry, is the recipient of the Outstanding Commercialization Award for Purdue University Faculty.

The award is given annually to a faculty member in recognition of outstanding contributions to, and success with, commercializing Purdue research discoveries. It was established with an endowment gift from the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Foundation.

Kissinger is the founder of Bioanalytical Systems Inc., which he led from 1974-2007.

BASi manufactures instrumentation for pharmaceutical research and carries out contract bioanalytical, pharmacological and toxicological research for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It has headquarters in West Lafayette and operations in Evansville, Ind.

In 2007 Peter Kissinger and Candice Kissinger founded Phlebotics Inc., a development-stage medical device company focused on diagnostic information for intensive-care medicine.

Peter Kissinger was a founder of the first Purdue new business incubator, INventure, in the late 1980s. In 2005 he became chairman and interim CEO of Prosolia, which markets new mass spectrometry innovations for life science applications. He has worked with four startup companies and has assisted with the founding of more than 12.

"I am delighted to be recognized in this way, but the ventures I've been involved with would have been impossible without the great people we have here in Indiana as employees, collaborators, vendors, investors and friends," Kissinger said.

Kissinger has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and a doctorate in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina. He joined Purdue's faculty in 1975. His academic research has involved the study of modern liquid chromatography techniques and in vivo methodology for drug metabolism and the neurosciences. 

He has published more than 240 scientific papers and is a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a regular columnist for the trade publication Drug Discovery News and serves on the boards of Chembio Diagnostic Systems Inc., a NASDAQ-listed company; the Indiana Health Industry Forum; and Tymora, a recent Purdue-based startup company.

"Professor Kissinger truly exemplifies the best of entrepreneurship among Purdue's faculty," said Julie Griffith, Purdue vice president for public affairs. "He has been a pioneer in taking his research work from university labs to public benefit."

Kissinger is the 11th recipient of the Outstanding Commercialization Award, which includes a $5,000 stipend. Previous recipients are Stephen R. Byrn, Alok Chaturvedi, R. Graham Cooks, Philip Low, Karthik Ramani, Fred Regnier, George Wodicka, Lonnie Bentley, Mikhail Attalah, and the late Leslie A. Geddes.

Kissinger will speak on entrepreneurship and the land-grant tradition at 4 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 20) in the Purdue Memorial Union Anniversary Drawing Room. A reception will be held from 4:30-5 p.m. The event is open to the public, but those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to d3@purdue.edu.

"Purdue has been central to a great many science- and engineering-based firms, and I credit the land-grant mission for providing the right tone from the beginning in 1869," Kissinger said. "It's our goal to change the world for the better.  With all the recent support for entrepreneurial activity, this is accelerating." 

Kissinger also will be honored that evening along with other Purdue faculty and staff during the ninth annual Inventors Recognition Reception, sponsored by Purdue Research Foundation. It will be held beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Kurz Purdue Technology Center, 1281 Win Hentschel Blvd., West Lafayette. 

Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu

Sources: Julie Griffith, 765-494-6838, jgriff@purdue.edu