Charles Hamner, early NCBiotech president and 'father of NC life sciences,' dies

Charles E. Hamner Jr., a highly respected and accomplished scientist, university administrator and pharmaceutical executive who led the North Carolina Biotechnology Center during its formative years, from 1988 to 2002, died July 4 in Chapel Hill. He was 90.

“Dr. Hamner was so instrumental in building North Carolina’s life sciences industry that he is often referred to as ‘the Father of North Carolina’s Life Sciences,’” said Doug Edgeton, president and CEO of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. “We all hold Charles in such high regard and are eternally grateful for the work he did to help carve out a new sector for our state, not to mention setting a firm foundation for NCBiotech.”

Lee Lilley, secretary of the N.C. Department of Commerce, said, “Dr. Hamner's pioneering spirit and commitment to innovation have left an indelible mark on our state, fostering growth and prosperity that will be felt for generations. His legacy will continue to inspire and guide us as we strive to build upon his remarkable achievements.”

A vision for growth

When Hamner joined NCBiotech as president and CEO in February 1988, the biotechnology industry was in its early years. Most biotech companies were concentrated in California and Massachusetts.  

North Carolina had a fledgling biotechnology industry with few companies and scant impact but enormous potential and promise due to its strong research universities and other relevant assets. The state needed a new, high-growth industry to offset declines in its traditional industries - tobacco, textiles and furniture.

Hamner predicted that the life sciences would follow an S-shaped model of growth, starting slowly with university-based research but then accelerating rapidly as innovations were adopted, commercialized and manufactured on a large scale, before eventually leveling off at maturity decades into the future.

He convincingly shared his vision for that growth in meetings with dozens of state legislators. His folksy but astute salesmanship, delivered in a slow, mountain drawl, resonated with state lawmakers. The General Assembly has provided consistent bipartisan funding for NCBiotech programs and operations spanning more than four decades, and those sustained investments have helped generate an enormous impact.

North Carolina is ranked among the top life sciences hubs in the United States and the world, with over 840 life sciences companies employing 75,000 people, and an additional 2,500 companies that support the industry.  

North Carolina life sciences generate $82 billion of economic activity annually, according to the latest TEConomy Partners report entitled “2024 Evidence & Opportunity: Impact of Life Sciences in North Carolina.” The sector also generates $2.5 billion in state and local tax revenues annually.

“We would not be on the global map of the life sciences without Charles Hamner,” said Krista Covey, CEO and president at First Flight Venture Center, which presented Hamner with its 2024 High Flyer Champion of Innovation award, one of many honors Hamner received in his career.  

A long-term venture

In recent years, Hamner was fond of saying the state’s booming life sciences industry was “an overnight success,” as it appeared to be, before adding a qualifier, “40 years in the making.”

During his tenure in the 1990s, NCBiotech and its many partners methodically began building the necessary foundation to support long-term growth of the industry. Under Hamner’s strategic direction, they focused on strengthening the state’s life sciences infrastructure by:

• Investing more than $50 million in universities for faculty recruitment, scientific equipment and research projects
• Seed-funding 56 startup companies
• Creating a $26 million venture capital fund to support new companies
• Building NCBiotech a permanent headquarters and conference facility
• Providing biotechnology workshops for more than 1,000 high school teachers
• Creating training programs to provide for a skilled biomanufacturing workforce  
• Establishing scientific, technical and business groups for networking, information exchange and learning.  

Hamner also helped recruit 10 biotechnology companies to North Carolina, including some devoted to biomanufacturing, a sector he targeted. As he predicted, this segment has grown quickly, creating good-paying jobs that are accessible to anyone with a high school diploma and certificate training from the local community colleges.

Today, with nearly 34,000 employees working at 108 production sites, North Carolina has one of the world’s largest concentrations of biomanufacturing companies, including global brands such as Amgen, Baxter, Biogen, Eli Lilly, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, Genentech, Grifols, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Novonesis, Pfizer, CSL Seqirus, Thermo Fisher Scientific and more. Construction of new or expanded sites is underway across the state, representing billions of dollars in investment and several thousand new jobs.

“Dr. Hamner served as a life sciences advisor to our firm after his retirement, said John L. Atkins III, chairman and CEO of O’Brien Atkins Associates, PA and current NCBiotech board member. “We are so grateful to him for his insights, guidance and unwavering dedication to the life sciences. His impact will be felt for generations to come.” 

A diverse background

Hamner was born in Schuyler, Va., a small community in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, close to Charlottesville. According to his obituary, he grew up on a working farm, helping to raise crops, cattle and hogs, using horses and mules to pull plows and equipment.  

Hamner’s boyhood interest in agriculture and science led him to earn a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry on full scholarship from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, while also serving in the Corps of Cadets. He was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant from the U.S. Army Reserve in 1964.

Hamner went on to earn a master’s degree in chemistry, a doctor of veterinary medicine degree and a doctoral degree in biochemistry, all from the University of Georgia.

Achievements in multiple realms

Hamner found success in the scientific, academic, business and non-profit worlds, moving seamlessly among the sectors.

As a reproductive-biology researcher at the University of Virginia, Hamner helped develop the technique of in vitro fertilization in cats. The technique was later applied to humans and became widely known as the “test tube baby” method of artificial insemination.

Hamner also worked in the pharmaceutical industry, including five years as director of program coordination for research and development at A.H. Robins. In retirement, he wrote about drug development and consulted for several clients.  

Over the years, Hamner authored more than 50 scientific publications, co-authored chapters in 12 books on reproductive physiology and biochemistry, and edited two editions of the book Drug Development.

He was recruited to NCBiotech in 1988 after serving 10 years as chief operating officer at the University of Virginia Medical Center, where he also served on the faculty with joint appointments in Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Biology. He oversaw the construction of a new hospital and other facilities totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.  

Remembrances pour in

As news of his passing spread in the life sciences community, dozens of heartfelt remembrances from colleagues, friends and associates began showing up on social media sites, lauding Hamner for his accomplishments, his impact on the state’s life sciences industry and his endearing personal attributes.  

He is widely remembered as a humble, kind, warm and courteous person who was generous with his time and always willing to share helpful advice.

Among the comments on LinkedIn:

“Charles was always ahead of his time, and much of the biotechnology success we enjoy today in North Carolina Charles saw coming decades ago.”

“His vision for a bio-driven economy continues to stand the test of time.”

“North Carolina life sciences would not be where it is now without him.”

“He understood what North Carolina needed to grow biotechnology into the force it is today.”

“His effects on North Carolina will last generations.”

“He was a great leader, a visionary, an excellent manager, an astute politician and an all-around good guy.”

“Charles was a pioneer and a true gentleman.”

W. Steven Burke, a former senior vice president at NCBiotech and a trusted adviser during Hamner’s entire tenure there, said “Fourteen years of close life with Charles taught and delighted. Wondering how to shape rich respect, I gave up and just offer words that emerged: revelatory, surprisingly idiosyncratic, wise, Virginian, tutored, compassionate, loved, leaderly and Hamnerian. Also: ave atque vale ─ hail and farewell.”

A final return to Virginia

Hamner is survived by his wife of 64 years, Sharon Kay Boone; daughter, E. Diana Inman (Randy) of Chapel Hill; son, Clifton C. Hamner (Giovana Mantovani) of Roxboro; and three grandchildren and one great-grandson. 

He will be buried in Charlottesville in a cemetery next to Monticello, the mountain estate of Thomas Jefferson.