Steen Riisgaard
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Steen Riisgaard | |
|---|---|
 Steen Riisgaard at a Novozymes board meeting December 2008 | |
| Born | 22 March 1951 Esbjerg, Denmark |
| Education | University of Copenhagen, MSc in Microbiology, 1979 |
| Website | Novozymes.com |
Steen Riisgaard (born 22 March 1951) is the former president and CEO of the Denmark-based biotech company Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes. He held this position from when Novozymes was founded in a demerger from Novo Nordisk in 2000 until he left the company in 2013 when Peder Holk Nielsen became CEO.
Steen Riisgaard was educated at the University of Copenhagen and holds an MSc in Microbiology from 1979. Protecting nature and the environment was a priority early on and Steen Riisgaard founded a local branch of the environmental organization Noah (Friends of the Earth, Denmark) in Ballerup, Denmark.[1]
Career
Riisgaard started his career as a research fellow at the Serum Institute of Denmark and a research microbiologist at Foss Electric, Denmark. In 1979, he joined Novo Nordisk in Enzymes Research & Development. In 1982 he moved to Tokyo to start up an Enzymes Research & Development unit in the Novo Nordisk subsidiary Novo Industri Japan Ltd. After his return to Denmark in 1985, he held a range of jobs in the company before he was promoted to Corporate Executive Vice President with special responsibility for Enzyme Business in 1989.
When Novozymes was spun off from Novo Nordisk in a demerger in 2000, Riisgaard was made President and CEO of the new company.[2]
Riisgaard has said that an important motivation for working in Novozymes is the company's positive impact on the environment.[1]
Riisgaard is chairman of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Denmark,[3] chairman of the board of trustees of Egmont Group[4] and Rockwool International, and he serves on the board of EuropaBio.[5]