Donald Nielsen

DONALD W. NIELSEN, Ph.D.
7886 Medinah Court.
Pleasanton, CA 94588
donaldwnielsen@earthlink.net
Cell: (925) 918-1693 Home: (925) 485-1484

Executive Summary
Experienced executive with science credentials, interests and knowledge in the arts, and demonstrated accomplishments in: increasing net assets; transforming organizations; fundraising; forming joint ventures and collaborations; building organizations, research groups, and graduate programs; attracting and motivating faculty, staff, and students; and commercializing technology.

Executive Experience

CEO, Northern California Cancer Center 2003 to 2008
Recruited as chief executive officer and board member for this 170-person, $15 million cancer research organization in a crucial time of dwindling funding sources resulting from a heavy dependency (95%) on shrinking government funding
• Initiated, negotiated, and signed Memorandum of Understanding with Stanford University School of Medicine making NCCC essential to the future success of Stanford’s Cancer Center and winning the coveted Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute of the NIH
• Created opportunities for important inter-institutional collaborations that integrated Stanford’s molecular biology and cutting edge biotechnology with NCCC’s epidemiology and was a member of the Executive Council of the Stanford Cancer Center
• Increased NCCC’s prestige and visibility by establishing an External Advisory Board of nationally recognized experts to review quality, progress, and direction of the organization’s programs and administration
• Made NCCC more competitive by:
o Creating a Communications Manager position and hiring a PR firm to focus communications on external marketing and establishing an NCCC-wide graphic identity, as well as revising and redesigning the NCCC website and all publications
o Recruiting a new IT Director and raising the level of IT support, aligning IT with essential business practices and strategies
• Focused on single funding source challenge and began strategies to diversify NCCC’s revenue streams:
o Recruited Fund Development Director and initiated fund raising efforts to increase funding by donations
o Competed successfully to win pro bono consulting services from Stanford Business School Alumni Consulting Team (ACT)
o Used ACT as a catalyst for change and worked with them to determine the feasibility of selling NCCC services at market value to Contract Research Organizations (CRO’s), Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech companies to create new profit streams
o Hired business development consultant and initiated diversification of funding effort, marketed organization to CRO’s, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech companies, signed several Master Service Agreements and won contracts with Genentech and Amgen, as well as $90 million overall opportunity with CDC through collaboration with a CRO
• Identified aging Union City facilities as problem and increased company image and staff morale by re-locating into a modern, functional, and less costly facility in Silicon Valley
• Acquired an additional research group, and Berkeley site to house the new group, thus expanding NCCC’s research to include environmental causes of cancer and geographic information systems, as well as risk factors for childhood cancer

Executive Director, Central Institute for the Deaf, St. Louis, Missouri 1994 to 2002
Recruited as chief executive officer and board member for this 80-year old, 180-person, multifaceted organization (school for the deaf, clinic, graduate program, and research program) at a precarious time of declining productivity and stature.
• Set and monitored $10 million annual budget and provided the leadership and vision that resulted in an eight-year period of growth, and prosperity.
o Increased net assets from $22 million to $45 million in first five years.
o Successfully solicited over $30 million in funding for new CID campus, and designed and built two new award-wining facilities to house modern biology research, school for deaf children, and administration
• Clarified organization’s mission and devised and implemented its first successful strategic plan, reorganized its management, rebuilt and reinvented programs, and encouraged and supported professional growth of staff
• Formed business alliance with for-profit Crown Optical to open hearing clinics selling hearing aids in Crown Optical stores
• Created and grew new cellular/molecular biology based research program within CID to international prominence
• Revived the graduate program with new focus to largest enrollment ever —a program that was subsequently rated in the top 10 by U.S. News and World Report and has since graduated 15–20 students a year
• Increased CID’s stature and visibility through: recruiting of internationally recognized staff, establishing an organization-wide graphic identity, working with a PR firm, instituting an external peer review of all the organization’s programs using national advisory boards and by being active in professional organizations.
• Formed strategic alliances with Washington University Medical Center, instigated successful merger with another nonprofit, Deaf Services
• Constantly protected CID’s interests in negotiations, agreements, joint ventures, and intellectual property issues in concert with organization’s attorneys
• Served as CID representative to Washington University Medical Center Corporation

Executive Vice President of Research, House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, California 1986 to 1994
Recruited to increase the quality and productivity of Institute’s research and to initiate acquisition of peer reviewed government research funding
• Directed and significantly improved interactions with FDA, NIH, and local IRB, negotiated research contracts with industry, universities, and government, formed a joint business venture between the organization and a Canadian company, and protected Institute’s interests in cooperative agreements
• Formed new hearing aid research program, recruited research head and facilitated development of a new digital hearing aid, then negotiated intellectual property rights and collaboration with Starkey Laboratories Inc. to commercialize the device
• With new head of hearing aid research, initiated an international hearing aid research conference that is held every other year and brings together scientists and business development people from industry, universities and independent research organizations to share cutting edge ideas and form collaborations- The conference continues to this day and plays a leading role in the development and commercialization of hearing aids
• Created new cochlear implant research program, recruited program leader, and formed a multi-faceted team of otological and neurological surgeons, psychophysicists, neuropathologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, engineers, audiologists, and geneticists that completely redesigned, and successfully developed and tested an implantable auditory brainstem stimulator hearing device- Subsequently collaborated with Cochlear Corporation to conduct clinical trials, educate surgeons, and get FDA approval of this orphan device that is the nation’s first implantable chronic brain sensory stimulation device
• With new cochlear implant research head, reinstituted a conference that is held every other year to bring together scientists and business development people from industry, universities and independent research organizations to discuss cutting edge cochlear implant science- Developed the conference into the leading international conference that led the way to developing and perfecting cochlear implants
• Met growth needs by building a new 120,000 sq. ft. facility, guided planning of research space in the new facility, and helped solicit $35 million funding for it
• Initiated government and commercial research funding, including SBIR support, to supplement foundation and private donor support

Director, Otological Research Laboratories, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, 1974 to 1986
• Recruited to revitalize this once prominent laboratory that had been shut down for two years.
• Began alone, quickly recruited staff, established research programs in electrophysiology, pathology and psychophysics and conducted long-term cooperative research ventures with universities and a Canadian hospital
• Helped write hospital’s Principles and Policies for the Administrative Support of Biomedical Research and its Guidelines for Intramural Funding
• Made funding and space decisions as member of hospital Research Committee
• Competed successfully for intra- and extramural funding, including NIH and private foundations
• Participated in design of new laboratories in new building
• Supervised training of residents, fellows, and graduates, medical and pre-med students
• Member, Project Research and Human Rights Committee (1975 to 1978)
• Care of Experimental Animals Committee (1985 to 1986)
• Coauthored Fundamentals of Hearing a bestselling textbook and published articles in peer-reviewed journals including Science and was active as an officer and board member of professional organizations

Boards& Volunteer Work

Fremont California Chamber of Commerce
Board member 2008

Peninsula Women’s Chorus
Board member & Chair of Governance Committee (2007 to Present)

Northern California Cancer Center
Board member (2003 to 2008)

Purdue University
Member, Audiology Advisory Board, Department of Audiology and Speech Sciences (2001 to 2008); Co-chair 2002- 2004

Central Institute for the Deaf, St. Louis, Missouri
Board member (1994 to 2002)

Salvation Army Transitional Housing Program
Strategic Planning Facilitator, (United Way Volunteer) 2001

Northwestern University – Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Member, Hugh Knowles Advisory Board, Member 1995 to 2000; Chair 1996-2000

Association of Independent Research Institutes
Board member (1995 to 1998); Vice President 1995-1998; Member, Government Relations Committee 1997-1998; Member, Strategic Planning Committee 1998.

Society of Research Administrators
Member, Board of Directors (1990 to 1995); President Independent Research Organizations Division 1991;
President Western Section 1993; Member, Strategic Planning Committee 1997

Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Council Member (1981 to 1987); Secretary/Treasurer & Newsletter Editor 1981-1983; Chair, Bylaws Committee 1985-1986; Member Government Relations Committee 1998-1999; President 1986

Honors and Awards

Psi Chi: National Honorary Society in Psychology, (President, Wayne State University Chapter, 1967)
Sigma Xi: National Science Honorary Society
Who's Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology, 2nd Edition
Who's Who in the Midwest, 20th Edition

Additional Professional Organizations of Interest

American Association for the Advancement of Science (1964-2008)

New York Academy of Science (1974-2008)

Association of Fundraising Professionals (1995- 2004)

Formal Education

Ph.D. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, Major: Experimental Psychology 1968

M.A. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, Major: Experimental Psychology 1967

B.A. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, Major: Psychology; Minor: Economics 1963

Additional Courses of Interest

Harvard Business School, Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management Program (4/27 – 5/3) 1997

Harvard School of Public Health, Commercializing Biomedical Technologies (Nov. 7-9) 1994

Academic Positions

Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 1994 to 2002
Professor and Chair, Speech and Hearing Department, 1994 to 2002 (Chair, 1994 to 1996)
Adjunct Professor of Otolaryngology, 1995 to 2002

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 1988 to 1994
Research Associate Professor of Otolaryngology
Research Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 1975 to 1986
Adjunct Faculty in Audiology, Psychology, and Otolaryngology Departments

University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 1968 to 1974
NIH Special Fellow (1971 to 1973)
Assistant Professor, Department of Speech & Associate, Center for Neurobiological Sciences (1970 to 1974)
Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate, Communication Sciences Laboratory (1968 to 1970)
• Conducted research, published, taught and coordinated CSL seminars. (1968 to 1974)
• Member, Review Panel, Division of Sponsored Research Seed Money Proposals ( 1973 to 1974)
• Chair, Salary Study Committee, Department of Speech (1974)