Genentech Names Dick Munro As New Board Chair After Founder Swanson Retires

Business Wire, Dec 13, 1996

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 1996-- Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:GNE) announced today that it has named Dick Munro as the new chairman of its board of directors, following Robert A. Swanson's decision to retire as chairman and from the board at the end of 1996 after 20 years with the company that he co-founded with Herbert W. Boyer, Ph.D., in 1976, beginning the biotechnology industry. Munro has served on Genentech's board of directors for eight years.

"Dick Munro brings a wealth of experience to the Genentech Board both as a former CEO of Time Warner Inc. and as a member of the boards of several of America's premiere companies," said Arthur D. Levinson, Ph.D., Genentech's president and chief executive officer.

"I'm very excited about assuming the chairmanship of a company like Genentech -- it is the pioneer and pacesetter of the biotechnology industry," said Munro. "It's almost daunting to follow on the heels of a man like Bob Swanson who is co-creator of the enterprise that is Genentech, but I hope to bring the same level of support and vision to the company as it enters its equally important second generation and continues leading the industry into the 21st century."

Munro became a member of the board of directors of Genentech in February, 1988. Munro is chairman of the Executive Committee of the board of directors of Time Warner Inc. Prior to the formation of Time Warner Inc., Munro was chairman and chief executive officer of Time Inc., where he began his career in 1957. Munro is a director of Mobil Corporation, Kellogg Company, and K Mart Corporation. Munro is a member of the National Coalition of AIDS Research and the Counsel on Foreign Relations, chairman of the Points of Light Foundation, a director of the United Negro College Fund, and a trustee of Hamilton College, St. Lawrence University, Teacher's College, Columbia University and the Salisbury School.

Munro received his bachelor's degree from Colgate University and completed graduate work at Teacher's College, Columbia University. During the Korean War, he was decorated with the purple heart three times while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Swanson, who will continue as an advisor and consultant for Genentech, decided to leave the company's board in Genentech's twentieth anniversary year to allow him more time to identify and fund novel young companies working in uncharted areas -- much as he launched Genentech with Boyer, a biochemist at the University of California at San Francisco, in 1976.

Genentech, Inc. is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets human pharmaceuticals for significant unmet medical needs. Ten of the currently marketed biotechnology products stem from Genentech science, five of which Genentech markets directly in the United States. Genentech is headquartered in South San Francisco, California, and is traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges under the symbol GNE.

CONTACT: Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco

Laura Leber, 415/225-5759

Kathleen Rinehart, 415/225-8681

Susan Bentley, 415/225-1034

http://www.gene.com