Founder & Managing Director, Kenson Ventures, LLC
Dr. Kenneth Fong is currently the founder and chairman of Kenson Ventures, LLC, a company that specializes in investing and cultivating the growth of biomedical companies. Throughout the last 20 years, a number of companies have been acquired or went public.
Prior to establishing Kenson, Ken was the pioneer in the biomedical industry, having founded and served as CEO of Clontech Laboratories (1984 – 1999), which was acquired by Becton Dickinson in 1999. Clontech, a leader in the molecular genetics/cell biology market, was also the largest of its kind founded by an Asian American. Clontech had 400 employees, including 65 scientists before its BD acquisition.
Ken has held a number of leadership positions over the years. He served as the president of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in North America (ca 2,000 members, 2005-2006) and President of the Bay Area AAMA (1987). He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of California State University (2006-2013), the Advisory Board of the College of Science and Engineering at San Francisco State University, Board of Associates at the Whitehead Biomedical Institute at MIT, Board member of UCSD China Center (2018-present) and a Regional Chair and board member of the Committee of 100 (US 2016-2022).
Ken has many other philanthropic interests. He was one of the lead supporters for the San Jose Tech Museum, the Chinese Historical Society in San Francisco, the Bioengineering Auditorium at UC San Diego and the Indiana University graduate Seminar Programs. He has provided a number of scholarships to San Francisco State University, Peking University and the CSU students (Kenneth Fong – Hearst endowed Scholarships). He has established a Translational Research Award program at San Francisco State University (2016-present), an annual CABS K. Fong Award to the Best Biotech Entrepreneurs of the year (2015-present) in addition to the establishment of the Fong Optometry and Medical Library at UC Berkeley (2002), a research grant to the Stanford Eye Institute (2019) and an endowed professorship to Stanford University (2012).
