Gary Conkright

A visionary leader with a demonstrated ability to craft innovative strategies, build exceptional management teams and manage to results in a fast-changing business environment, Mr. Conkright is our co-founder and CEO. Prior to VGBio, he was the founding CEO and Chairman of SmartSignal Corporation, (now part of GE) a Chicago-based enterprise software firm, incubated by the University of Chicago to commercialize predictive analytics technology developed at Argonne National Laboratory. Over the past 20 years, serving as CEO of venture backed technology start-ups, he has secured over $44 million in venture capital to bring game-changing, proprietary technology from laboratory to commercial success. Throughout his start-up career, he has a track record of negotiating strategic collaborations, stemming from his philosophy to partner when possible, to leverage and focus on the company’s core competency. Gary has an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth Graduate School of Business and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University. He is also the named inventor on 4 US Patents.