Svec and Pesek Honored by CASSS for Service to Biopharmaceutical Community

CASSS, a professional biopharmaceutical society, honored longtime volunteers Frantisek Svec and Joseph Pesek as Distinguished Fellows after their retirements from the CASSS Board of Directors.

At a recent luncheon, John Frenz, president of the CASSS Board, noted that Svec had “shepherded CASSS into a big evolution” that developed CASSS into a global community of biopharmaceutical professionals.

Frantisek Svec, CASSS Distinguished Fellow, is former facility director of the organic and macromolecular synthesis facility at E.O. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

Svec, the former facility director of the organic and macromolecular synthesis facility at E.O. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, served on the CASSS Board for more than 15 years and said that encountering a wide range of people was one of the key benefits of that volunteer time with CASSS.

“I had the opportunity to meet a number of people both from the field I am interested in as well as from areas I would not have otherwise. … I learned a lot from discussions with these people,” Svec said. In addition, he said he was proud to work with CASSS because of its unique position within the field of biopharmaceutical science.

“CASSS does fine work while facilitating the interaction among industry, academic, and regulatory professionals,” Svec said. “I am not aware of any other non-profit scientific society that is as active in the field as CASSS.”

Pesek, is a professor of chemistry at San Jose State University, shares that sentiment. He said CASSS meetings are a great opportunity for discussion.

“CASSS provides a unique forum for those involved in biopharmaceutical science to interact and exchange ideas,” he said.

Joseph Pesek, CASSS Distinguished Fellow, is a Professor of Chemistry at San Jose State University

Pesek found guiding the future of the organization to be a rewarding element of his volunteer service. “Being a board member for eight years gave me the opportunity to meet scientists from all over the world and provide some input into the direction that broadened the scope and influence of CASSS.”

Frenz noted that Pesek “has been very important in building up the academic component of CASSS.” More than 4,000 industry, academic, and regulatory professionals are CASSS members. The not-for-profit professional scientific society is dedicated to facilitating the sharing of resources, information, and best practices to advance scientific knowledge for the benefit of its members and the public at large.