David and Alice Schwartz

For almost 60 years, David and Alice Schwartz have served as models of entrepreneurship and innovation. The company they cofounded originally to create and sell tobacco mosaic virus, Bio-Rad Laboratories, has evolved into a global enterprise that manufactures and distributes products to more than 85,000 customers in the life science research and clinical diagnostics markets.

About David and Alice Schwartz
David Schwartz grew up in Brooklyn, New York. After serving in World War II as part of the Army Signal Corps, he moved to California’s San Francisco Bay Area to attend college. He first met Alice in a class at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a degree in chemistry and she earned a degree in biochemistry. During a student bridge game in 1952, the couple happened upon the idea to start a company that would accelerate the scientific discovery process by providing useful products to researchers. With about $700 of their own money and some additional funds from a cousin, they launched Bio-Rad.

While the Schwartzes’ first product, tobacco mosaic virus, did not take off, they soon developed more marketable research products that resulted in the company’s tremendous growth. Today Bio-Rad employs over 5,000 people in an international network of operations, with headquarters in Hercules, California. The firm is renowned worldwide among hospitals, universities, and major research institutions, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. It has maintained the entrepreneurial spirit of its cofounders and done pioneering work in electrophoresis, DNA amplification, chromatography, multiplexing assays, nucleic acid and protein quantitation, and protein expression. Recently Bio-Rad has grown to over $1.4 billion in revenues.

David Schwartz currently serves as chairman of Bio-Rad, while Alice is a director. He has received a Pittcon Heritage Award and an Ernst and Young Lifetime Achievement Award.

About the Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries
The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) established the Award for Supporting Industries in 2006. The inaugural award went to Richard J. Bolte, Sr., founder and chairman of BDP International. In 2007 CHF renamed the award the Richard J. Bolte, Sr., Award for Supporting Industries. The award is presented annually by CHF to recognize outstanding contributions by a leader who provides products or services vital to the continuing growth and development of the chemical and molecular sciences community.


About the Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) fosters an understanding of chemistry’s impact on society. An independent nonprofit organization, we strive to

• Inspire a passion for chemistry;
• Highlight chemistry’s role in meeting current social challenges; and
• Preserve the story of chemistry across centuries.

CHF maintains major collections of instruments, fine art, photographs, papers, and books. We host conferences and lectures, support research, offer fellowships, and produce educational materials. Our museum and public programs explore subjects ranging from alchemy to nanotechnology.