Old Pfizer hand to run U-M's North Campus Research Complex

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

An old hand is taking the reins of the University of Michigan's new North Campus Research Complex now that ex-Pfizer executive David Canter has agreed to serve as the complex's executive director.

Canter, a physician and scientist, led the Pfizer pharmaceutical research operation on what was then Pfizer's Ann Arbor campus for most of the last decade until the company pulled up stakes and sold the 174-acre site to the University of Michigan. His appointment is up for approval by the U-M Board of Regents in mid-July.

"What David really does bring is the ability to work with diverse groups of scientists and get them to work together in innovative ways," says Joan Keiser, managing director of the North Campus Research Complex.

The university purchased the sprawling parcel with 30 buildings on the northeast side of Ann Arbor last year with a plan of turning it into a high-tech research mecca for university staff and private firms. Canter is responsible for mapping, developing, and implementing the university's strategy to make the most of the site.

The North Campus Research Complex is a suburban campus that comes complete with dozens of acres of open space and buildings that offer office, laboratory, and manufacturing capabilities. Some university staffers have begun moving into the new space.

Canter, who is already a member of U-M's vast research team, has spent 25 years in the pharmaceutical field, serving as the director of the Healthcare Research Initiative at the William Davidson Institute, a non-profit research and educational institute established at the university in 1992. Since 2008, he has led an effort to test business-based approaches to improving health care delivery in developing nations.

Canter first came to Michigan in 1986 as a vice president with Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis, which was then purchased by Pfizer in 2000. He led the firm's operations in Michigan as a senior vice president with Pfizer Global Research and Development from 2000 until 2008.

Source: Joan Keiser, managing director of the North Campus Research Complex
Writer: Jon Zemke