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 to 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
Dr. Dirk Basting
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lambda Physik AG
George Elmore
Founder and President of Hardrives Paving, Inc.
Judge Louis J. Freeh
Founder and Chairman, Freeh Group International Solutions, LLC
Former FBI Director
Dr. David Fitzpatrick
Scientific Director & CEO
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
James W. Harpel
Co-Founder of Two Roads Development and General Partner of First Reserve Corporation and Palm Beach Capital
Dr. Neen Hunt, Ed.D
Hulse Leadership Development Consulting and Former President and CEO of both The Mary Woodard Lasker Charitable Trust and the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, Inc.
Kenneth F. Kahn
President of LRP Media Group
Nasser J. Kazeminy
Technology entrepreneur and innovator
Founder of NJK Holding Corporation
Becky Mayer
Non-profit board governance
Internationally exhibited photographer
Michael V. Mitrione
Shareholder Gunster Law Firm
Gregory V. Novak
Vice-chair Intellectual Property Group, Co-Chair IP Litigation, Polsinelli, PC
Jane Panattoni
Co-owner and Founder of Panattoni Development Co.
Bernard J. Poussot
Retired Chairman & CEO, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer)
Markus Schleier
Chief Legal Officer at Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science
John Sculley
Chairman of RxAdvance, entrepreneur and tech investor
Former Apple CEO and Former President of PepsiCo.
Dr. James N. Weinstein
Senior Vice President, Microsoft Healthcare
Former CEO and President of 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