Richard Smith joined Dow AgroSciences, Canada Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company, in 1989 where he held senior management roles, including several commercialization initiatives in plant biotechnology. He was appointed President and CEO in 1997, a position he held until his retirement at the end of 2005. Mr. Smith also held senior management roles with Eli Lilly and Company in the life sciences area, including human pharmaceuticals, animal health and agricultural plant sciences. He was the founding chairman of Bio Products Canada Inc., and is a member of the Board and the Executive Committee of BioAlberta, a board member of AVAC, Commercial Solutions Inc. and AgStream Inc. Mr. Smith attended the University of Waterloo where he received his B.Sc. in Applied Chemistry in 1971 and his M.Sc. in Biochemistry in 1972.