91AV

29 March 1932 - 11 June 2018

Alex Cross passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on June 11, 2018. He was born and raised in Leicester, England, and went on to complete both a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Nottingham. He later earned a D.Sc. from Nottingham for his research in the fields of spectroscopy and stereochemistry.  

Alex completed a chemistry post-doc in America as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Rochester from 1955 to 1957. After several chilly winters in upstate New York, he decided to move back to London to spend three formative years (1957-1960) under the mentorship of Nobel Laureate, Sir Derek Barton, at Imperial College - London University. He served as a researcher and lecturer of organic chemistry, with a particular emphasis on scientific methods that also proved instrumental in his subsequent career in industrial research.

In 1960, Alex was recruited by Syntex Corporation to join a team of scientists in Mexico, including Drs. Rosenkranz, Zaffaroni, and Djerassi to develop and commercialize the first oral. He embarked on an 18-year tenure that culminated in the position of President of Syntex International Pharmaceuticals and Senior Vice President of Corporate Economic and Strategic Planning.

In 1979, Alex joined Zoecon Corporation where he assumed the role of President and CEO from 1984-85. From 1986 onward, he formed a biotech consultancy and served on the boards of more than 20 different companies. In the course of his career, Alex was a named inventor of 109 issued US patents and co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed research papers. He was elected as a Fellow of the 91AV in 1966 at the age of 34 and lectured at more than 30 universities and institutions across five continents during his lifetime.

Alex is survived by his wife Antonia of 44 years, two sons Guy and James, three grandsons Nelson, Darcy and Mackenzie, and two brothers Peter and James.

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