Harold "Hal" Davies Joins J. Craig Venter Institute as Chief Financial Officer

ROCKVILLE, Md. and SAN DIEGO, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) today announced that Harold "Hal" Davies has joined the organization as Chief Financial Officer effective immediately. Davies will be responsible for the overall financial management for the Rockville, Maryland and San Diego, California campuses of the JCVI. He will be based in San Diego and will report directly to J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., JCVI's Founder and CEO. JCVI has also hired Antony Peake as the new Director of Sponsored Projects. He will be responsible for managing all administrative aspects of JCVI's research grants and contracts and will report to Mr. Davies. Peake, who will start July 1, will also be based in the San Diego facility.

"Hal's strong financial and accounting background, coupled with his leadership experience at a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations make him the ideal CFO for JCVI. I look forward to having Hal on my team," said Dr. Venter. "We are also pleased to have Antony join our team as our new Director of Sponsored Projects."

Davies comes to JCVI with extensive finance and accounting leadership experience. For the past 8 years he was the Chief Financial Officer at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, an independent research institution. Prior to this he was Corporate Controller for Alper Ink Group LLC, a $185 million ink manufacturer.  He also worked as the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Huttig Building Products from 1988 to 1998. He began his career with the accounting firm, Deloitte and Touche, where he worked from 1980 to 1988.

At the Danforth Center, Davies planned and executed a highly service oriented financial function, including sponsored project accounting and compliance operations, and was responsible for numerous cost-savings initiatives. Throughout his career he has had extensive experience with financial system implementations, internal controls and procedure development, budgeting and planning, financial analysis and treasury management. 

Davies is a Certified Public Accountant who earned an MBA from Washington University, St. Louis in 1995 and a BA in Accounting from the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Antony Peake joins JCVI from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, CA where he was Director of Grants Accounting since 2004. Prior to this he held positions at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom including his last job there as Research Finance Group Manager. 

Peake is a Certified Research Administrator with a degree in business administration from the University of Cambridge.

About the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI)
The JCVI is a not-for-profit research institute in Rockville, MD and San Diego, CA dedicated to the advancement of the science of genomics; the understanding of its implications for society; and communication of those results to the scientific community, the public, and policymakers. Founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., the JCVI is home to approximately 350 scientists and staff with expertise in human and evolutionary biology, genetics, bioinformatics/informatics, information technology, high-throughput DNA sequencing, genomic and environmental policy research, and public education in science and science policy. The legacy organizations of the JCVI are: The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), The Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG), the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives (IBEA), the Joint Technology Center (JTC), and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation. The JCVI is a 501 (c)(3) organization. For additional information, please visit http://www.JCVI.org.

SOURCE J. Craig Venter Institute