Boards
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees of Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience is a group of dedicated professionals representing a variety of backgrounds and expertise. The Board actively participates in the guidance of the Institute towards fulfilling its mission while maintaining the highest standards of accountability.
As a public not-for-profit institution, the Institute takes seriously its responsibilities to maintain public trust and to integrate sound business practices into its daily operations. The Board reviews the Institute’s activities and progress towards its fundamental goal of conducting basic research to stimulate novel approaches in understanding the structure, function and development of neural circuits.
Dr. Asifa Akhtar
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Director, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics
Mr. George Elmore
Founder and President, Hardrives, Inc.
Dr. David Fitzpatrick
Scientific Director and Chief Executive Officer
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
The Honorable Louis J. Freeh
Founder and Chairman, Freeh Group International Solutions,
LLC Founder and Partner, Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP
Mr. James Harpel
Co-Founder of Two Roads Development and General Partner of First Reserve Corporation
Dr. Neen Hunt, Ed.D
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Mary Woodard Lasker Charitable Trust and the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Kenneth F. Kahn
President, LRP Publications
Mr. Nasser J. Kazeminy
Founder and Chairman, NJK Holding Corporation
Mrs. Becky Mayer
Co-leader of the Good Life Executive Seminars
for personal advancement
Mr. Michael V. Mitrione, ESQ.
Co-Chair of Corporate Practice Group, Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P.A.
Mr. Gregory V. Novak, ESQ.
Vice-chair Intellectual Property Group, Co-Chair IP Litigation, Polsinelli, PC
Mrs. Jane Panattoni
Philanthropist and Nonprofit Leader
Mr. Bernard J. Poussot
Retired Chairman, Wyeth
Mr. John Sculley
Chairman, RxAdvance
Mr. Markus Schleier
Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science
Dr. James N. Weinstein
Immediate past CEO and President, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health
Board of Trustee – Members Emeriti
Professor Dr. Peter Gruss – Chairman Emeritus
President, Max Planck Society for the Advancement
of Science (2002-2014)
Mr. Alexander W. Dreyfoos
Chairman, The Dreyfoos Group
Dr. David C. Auth, Ph.D., P.E., NAE,
Chairman and CEO, Coaptus Medical Corporation
Professor Dr. Bill S. Hansson
Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Director, Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Scientific Advisory Board
As a necessary compliment to the operational guidance provided by the institute’s Board of Trustees, MPFI is scientifically guided by a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
Every Max Planck Institute is regularly assessed by an SAB, and held meetings in 2014, 2016 and 2018. SAB members are experts chosen from leading research institutions and universities. The main responsibility of the SAB is to provide regular evaluations of the institute’s scientific performance.
Dr. Ann Graybiel
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Michael Häusser
University College London
Dr. Anthony Movshon
New York University
Dr. Elly Nedivi
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Bernardo Sabatini
Harvard Medical School
Dr. Carla J. Shatz
Stanford University
Dr. Gary Westbrook
Vollum Institute