McCann named interim president of UMBI

July 24, 1998 -- University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor Donald Langenberg today announced the appointment of Dr. Peter P. McCann as interim president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, effective August 3. McCann will serve in that capacity until a permanent successor is found for Rita R. Colwell, who recently left the UMBI presidency to become Director-designate of the National Science Foundation.

"We are enormously fortunate that Dr. McCann was willing to take on the interim presidency," Langenberg said. "He brings to the task a reputation not only as a leading microbiologist but also as a highly effective CEO. This combination will insure that during his tenure as interim president, he will be far more than a caretaker at UMBI. He will continue the tradition of dynamic leadership established by Dr. Colwell and will keep the Institute on the fast track in the highly competitive field of biotechnology."

McCann, 54, comes to UMBI from British Biotech plc, where he served as president of the firm's North America subsidiary, based in Annapolis, MD, since 1994. Responsible for setting up the U.S. company, he ran its Phase II and Phase III clinical trials and regulatory operations in the area of cancer and inflammatory disease across more than 200 sites. McCann previously held a number of key research, administrative, and education positions with Marion Merrell Dow Inc. and the Merrell Dow Research Institute. From 1970 to 1973 he was a fellow in the laboratory of Molecular Biology in the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism and Digestive Diseases in Bethesda, MD.

A professor of cell biology, neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine since 1984, McCann has chaired or given numerous presentations at major industry health care conferences and frequent meetings with industry analysts and company shareholders. Additionally, he has run collaborative research programs between industry and universities, and has managed research administrative departments concurrent with managing a biochemistry research laboratory. His own research led to the first new treatment for African sleeping sickness in 40 years, with approval by the FDA in 1990.

Currently an editor of Biochemical Journal, McCann is author or co-author of 137 articles, 66 abstracts, and five United States patents. He holds an A.B. degree in zoology from Columbia College of Columbia University and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Syracuse University.