Professor Tony Atkinson 1945-2011

Monday, June 27, 2011

The Board of Directors regrets to announce that Professor Tony Atkinson passed away on Sunday 19 June 2011, after a very brief illness. Professor Tony Atkinson made an invaluable contribution to the Company and the Board would like to convey its sincere condolences to his family.

Professor Tony Atkinson was one of the founders of TMO Renewables Limited in 2002 and played a key operational role in TMO as Research Director until he stepped down from that post at the end of 2008. Professor Tony Atkinson continued to be involved in the business in his new role as Non-Executive Director and as a Research Consultant offering strategic and technical advice to his successor Dr Steven Martin. The vision, energy and creativity that Professor Tony Atkinson brought to TMO will never be forgotten.

Dr Steven Martin succeeded Professor Tony Atkinson as Research Director in 2008. He continues to direct operations for TMO's research programs, managing the process biotechnology, fermentation and analytical groups. He also takes responsibility for scaling-up TMO's proprietary fermentation processes to commercial scale.

Biography

Professor Tony Atkinson earned his degree and PhD in Biochemistry from Manchester University. He started his career at the UK Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research (CAMR). He retired as Deputy Director and Director of Commercial Biotechnology to take up a career in the commercialisation of science. Professor Tony Atkinson was previously the CEO of Enact Pharma before its sale to Protherics, a Non-Executive Director of Fusion IP and Chairman of Morvus Technology. To date he has published over 400 scientific papers and registered 20 patents, a number of which have been out-licenced to blue chip companies. He was a member of the New York Academy of Science and was a visiting Professor at Warwick, Bath and Bristol Universities. In 2009 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine for his contribution to medical science.