David Baltimore, former president of the California Institute of Technology (1997-2006) is President Emeritus and the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology. He is an accomplished researcher, educator, administrator and public advocate for science and engineering and is considered one of the world's most influential biologists. He received his BA in Chemistry from Swarthmore College in1960 and a PhD in 1964 from Rockefeller University. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1975 in Physiology or Medicine for his research into viral replication that provided the key to understanding the life cycle of retroviruses, Baltimore has profoundly influenced national science policy on such issues as recombinant DNA research and the AIDS epidemic.

His present research focuses on control of inflammatory and immune responses as well as on the use of gene therapy methods to treat HIV and cancer in a program called "Engineering Immunity". This research has resulted in the formation of the Joint Center for Translational Medicine, which he co-directs, and is an activity that joins Caltech and UCLA in a program to translate basic science discoveries into clinical realities.

He has played an important role in the development of American biotechnology since his involvement in the 1970's in the formation of Collaborative Genetics. He helped found other companies such as Calimmune and Immune Design and he presently serves on the Board of Directors at several companies and non-profit institutions including the Broad Foundation and Broad Institute, and Amgen and Regulus Therapeutics. He is a member of numerous Scientific Advisory Boards, including the Broad Institute, Ragon Institute, Regulus Therapeutics and Immune Design. He is a Scientific Partner to the venture capital firm, The Column Group, and was a Director of the Swiss investment company BB Biotech through 2011.

Baltimore's numerous honors and awards include the 1999 National Medal of Science, 2000 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, and he was the first recipient of the Gustave Stern Award in Virology in 1970. He is past-President and Chair of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, including the Executive Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. He was recently appointed by the NAS as Chair of the International Summit on Human Gene Editing. He has published more than 690 peer-reviewed articles.