PFIZER CEO ALBERT BOURLA, SIMONS FOUNDATION CEO DAVID SPERGEL, AND ARKEMA CEO ANTHONY O’DONAVAN TO BE HONORED AT CME STEM LEADERSHIP AWARDS
For Immediate Release
November 1, 2025 - New York, NY The Chemical Marketing & Economics (CME) STEM Leadership Awards Luncheon and Gala Reception will be held on December 9, 2025, in Midtown Manhattan from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM. The event will honor Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla for Lifetime Achievement, Simons Foundation President David Spergel for Fundamental Research, and Arkema Inc. President and CEO Anthony O'Donovan for Corporate Reinvention. The Keynote Speaker will be NASA former Chief Scientist James Green.
This prestigious event marks CME's 71st Anniversary and continues the organization's tradition of recognizing exceptional leaders who advance STEM innovation, sustainability, and global impact at the intersection of business, science, and technology.
AIAC Chairman L. M. Levie, Member of the CME STEM Awards Committee, commented on the significance of this year's honorees. "The 2025 CME STEM Leadership Awards recognize three extraordinary leaders whose contributions span the frontiers of pharmaceutical innovation, fundamental astrophysics research, and sustainable materials development. Their achievements exemplify the transformative power of STEM leadership in addressing humanity's greatest challenges.”
Globally recognized, the CME STEM Leadership Award's distinguished honorees have included the Hon. Wilbur L. Ross, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Hubert Sagnieres, Vice Chairman of Essilor Luxottica, Ricard Garriott de Cayeaux, former President of The Explorers Club, James and Marilyn Simons, Founders of the Simons Foundation, Len Blavatnik, Chairman of Access Industries Holdings and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Pindaros Roy Vagelos, Chairman of Regeneron and former Chairman of Merck & Co., Jon Huntsman, Sr., Chairman of Huntsman Corporation, Ken Frazer, Executive Chairman of Merck & Co., Jim Fitterling, Chairman of Dow Inc., John Craig Venter, Chairman of Celera Genomics and the J. Venter Institute, Henry Kravis, Chair of KKR, David Cote, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell Corporation, Martin Brudermüller, Chair of BASF and The Mercedes-Benz Group, Ed Breen of DuPont, Daniel D'Aniello of The Carlyle Group, and seven Nobel Laureates including Barry Sharpless (one of only five individuals in history to receive two Nobel Prizes), Frances Arnold, Carolyn Bertozzi, and Moungi Bawendi.
Chemical Marketing & Economics, Inc. (CME) located in Morristown, NJ, is focused on accelerating diverse Space Age STEM talent leadership for sustainable innovation, environmental stewardship and global impact at the intersection of business, science and technology.
CME was established in 1954 as a division of the American Chemical Society (ACS), one of the world's largest scientific societies, with 155,000 members and 20,000 students.
CME is today an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that organizes events with NASA, the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Lab, ACS Technical Divisions and International Chapters, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the American Chemistry Council.
CME's award-winning interdisciplinary STEM activities include the fascinating Annual CME NASA Symposiums and Earth & Space Sustainability Summit and the unique CME PMSE Student & Mentor Awards which recognizes the most basic unit of human innovation, the student and mentor. CME is also the proud National Partner of the ACS Scholars Program and an AIChE collaborator of the FOSSI scholarships for underrepresented groups.
For further information, please see:
https://www.cme-stem.org/events/2025-cme-stem-leadership-award/
About Albert Bourla
Albert Bourla is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer Inc., one of the world's premier biopharmaceutical companies. Under his leadership, Pfizer has been at the forefront of developing breakthrough therapies and vaccines that have transformed global health outcomes.
Bourla joined Pfizer in 1993 and has held multiple leadership positions across the company's global operations, including leading Pfizer's global vaccine business and serving as Group President of Pfizer Innovative Health. He was named Chief Executive Officer in January 2019 and became Chairman in January 2020.
During his tenure as CEO, Bourla led Pfizer through one of the most significant periods in pharmaceutical history, including the rapid development and global deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. His leadership exemplifies the critical role of pharmaceutical innovation in addressing global health challenges.
Bourla is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and holds a Ph.D. in the Biotechnology of Reproduction from the Veterinary School of Aristotle University. He is actively involved in numerous industry and policy organizations focused on advancing healthcare innovation and access worldwide.
About David Spergel
David Spergel is the President of the Simons Foundation, one of the nation's leading private funders of basic scientific research. The Simons Foundation advances the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences through its grant programs, which support outstanding investigators and innovative projects.
Prior to joining the Simons Foundation, Spergel was the Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation and Chair of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. He is renowned for his groundbreaking work in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, particularly his contributions to understanding the structure and evolution of the universe.
Spergel's research has been instrumental in shaping our understanding of dark matter, dark energy, and the cosmic microwave background radiation. He has received numerous honors for his scientific contributions, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Under his leadership, the Simons Foundation continues to support fundamental research that expands human knowledge and drives scientific discovery across multiple disciplines.
About Anthony O'Donovan
Anthony O'Donovan is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Arkema Inc., the North American subsidiary of Arkema, a global leader in specialty materials and advanced materials solutions. Arkema is a French multinational company with operations in more than 55 countries and a portfolio spanning high-performance materials, industrial specialties, and coating solutions.
O'Donovan has demonstrated exceptional leadership in transforming Arkema's North American operations to meet the evolving demands of sustainable materials development. His strategic vision has positioned the company at the forefront of developing innovative, environmentally responsible materials for diverse industries including automotive, electronics, construction, and renewable energy.
With extensive experience in the chemical and materials industry, O'Donovan has championed initiatives that balance economic performance with environmental stewardship. His leadership reflects a commitment to corporate reinvention through sustainable innovation, operational excellence, and strategic positioning for long-term growth in an evolving global marketplace.
Under his guidance, Arkema Inc. continues to invest in research and development of next-generation materials that support the transition to a more sustainable economy while delivering value to customers across multiple sectors.
About James L. Green
James Lauer Green is an American physicist who served as NASA's chief scientist until his retirement on January 1, 2022, after more than 40 years of service at the agency. Green received his Ph.D. in Space Physics from the University of Iowa in 1979. He studied practical astronomy in high school before majoring in astronomy at the University of Iowa, where he was influenced by renowned scientists including Dr. James A. Van Allen and Dr. Don Gurnett.
Green began his NASA career at Marshall Space Flight Center, where he developed and managed NASA's first Internet, the Space Physics Analysis Network. He also served as a safety diver in the Neutral Buoyancy tank. Green became Director of NASA's Planetary Science Division in August 2006, a position he held for more than a decade—making him the longest-serving director in that division's history. Under his leadership, numerous high-profile missions were successfully executed, including New Horizons flyby of Pluto, MESSENGER to Mercury, Juno to Jupiter, Dawn to Vesta and Ceres, and the landings of the Curiosity, InSight, and Perseverance rovers on Mars. In September 2015, he announced the likelihood that there was once flowing water on Mars.
In 2018, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot named Green as NASA's new chief scientist, effective May 1, 2018. Throughout his distinguished career, Green received the Arthur S. Flemming award in 1988 for outstanding individual performance in the federal government and was awarded Japan's Kotani Prize in 1996 for his international science data management activities. In 2017, asteroid 25913 was named Jamesgreen in his honor. He has authored more than 125 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and over 80 technical and popular science articles. Green also served as an advisor on cultural projects, including helping coordinate NASA's involvement with the 2015 film "The Martian.
About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) is a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.
AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, confectionary, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, AIAC companies are exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products and serve as critical suppliers for the construction of major airports, schools, hospitals, performing arts and sports centers, offices and hotels throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, signage and illumination structures in North America, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.
Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell.
AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC affiliate, Champlain Cable Corporation, supported the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions with high performance wire and cable. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.
AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC controls and sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary.
AIAC affiliate, Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, located in Germany, designs, manufactures and distributes high performance, emergency portable power generators utilized in global conflict zones and during natural disasters.
For further information, please see:
www.aiac.com
About AIAC Philanthropy
AIAC and the AIAC Foundation support a wide range of nonprofit, nonsectarian, bipartisan organizations which promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, exploration, and the performing arts.
The exploration-focused nonprofit organizations which they actively support include the Explorers Club, the National Geographic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, The Royal Observatory Greenwich, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Space Society, and the United States Space Foundation.
AIAC's other beneficiaries include the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation Inc., the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Gates Philanthropy Partners, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carter Center, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institut Française des Relations Internationales, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Crisis Group, the International Rescue Committee, the Japan Society, the JFK School of Government of Harvard University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Sierra Club, the Trilateral Commission, and the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute.
For further information, please see:
https://www.aiac.com/our-values
Media Contact:
Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
+34 689 295 827 (Spain)
+1 787 244 3175 (USA)
icarro-toro@aiac.com