George Rathmann

George Blatz Rathmann (1927–2012) was an American chemist, biologist, pioneer in biotechnology and corporate executive. In 1980 he co-founded and served as the first CEO of Amgen, and later founded Icos.

Background Rathmann was born on December 25, 1927, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His mother was Edna Blatz, from the family who ran the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company. His father was Louis Rathmann, who worked in various local businesses.

Rathmann received the first of the Biotechnology Heritage Awards from the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the Chemical Heritage Foundation in 1999 in recognition of his career as a scientist and entrepreneur. In 2000, he endowed a professorship at Northwestern, held by Chad Mirkin.

He died on April 22, 2012, in Palo Alto, California, from kidney failure.

Awards and honors 1987 and 1988, CEO of the year in 1987 and 1988 by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) 1992, BioPharm Achievement Award 1995, Glenn Seaborg Medal from the University of California-Los Angeles 1997, Bower Award for Business Leadership at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia 1999, Biotechnology Heritage Award, given by the Chemical Heritage Foundation and BIO 2000, Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 2001, James Madison Medal from Princeton University

On behalf of Amgen, he also received the Gift of Life Award from the Illinois Chapter of the National Kidney Foundation and the Annual Recognition Award from the Washington D.C. National Kidney Foundation