Bhaskar Venepalli receives Order of the Long Leaf Pine
Key Takeaways
- Respected advisor, board member: Bhaskar Venepalli brings decades of life sciences experience to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's board of directors
- Prestigious award: The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is the highest award for state service presented by the North Carolina governor’s office
- Longtime entrepreneur: Venepalli co-founded CiVentiChem in 1994
Bhaskar R. Venepalli, Ph.D., a scientist, entrepreneur and longstanding board member of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, has received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, a state honor for extraordinary service to North Carolina.
NCBiotech’s LinkedIn post announced the award, congratulating the Indian American scientist and citing his service to the state and local communities and NCBiotech.
NCBiotech also recognized Venepalli’s role as president and CEO of CiVentiChem, a fully integrated custom research and manufacturing service organization in the life sciences. CiVentiChem provides services for discovery, development and manufacturing segments to a global clientele, from new biotech startups to multinational CDMOs (contract development and manufacturing organizations), pharmaceutical, crop sciences and other life sciences companies.
Before co-founding CiVentiChem in 1994, Venepalli spent 13 years with Eastman Kodak. He received his Ph.D. from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Southampton in England and The Rockefeller University in New York. He received his MBA from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester.
Highest state honor
The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is the highest award for state service presented by the North Carolina governor’s office. The award recognizes individuals for extraordinary service to North Carolina.
NCBiotech’s board includes individuals with experience in the life sciences, business, finance and academia. Doug Edgeton, president and CEO of NCBiotech, praised Venepalli’s fascinating and highly successful life. “NCBiotech is fortunate to have him as a director,” Edgeton said.
Venepalli is also a longtime member of the American Chemical Society. He served as chair of the society’s North Carolina Local Section in 2019 and was named an American Chemical Society Fellow in 2017. He received the society’s 2022 Marcus E. Hobbs Award and 2025 Henry F. Whalen Jr. Award.
The North Carolina Local Section of the American Chemical Society established the Dr. Bhaskar R. Venepalli Award for Distinguished Speaker of the Year in recognition of his contributions to the organization and a donation supporting the award’s endowment.
Venepalli recently published a memoir, The Chemistry of Life: A Scientist’s Inspirational Journey from Rural India to Global Success. The book’s description partly reads, “The Chemistry of Life is an evocative memoir charting an extraordinary life journey driven by unyielding resilience and an audacious vision. Born into a farming family in a remote Telangana village in the 1950s, the author’s childhood was marked by scarcity and struggle, where necessities were considered luxuries and education was rare.”