John F. Crowley

John F. Crowley is the chairman and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company focusing on developing treatments for rare genetic diseases. John has been Amicus CEO since 2005 and has overseen the company’s growth from a four-person start-up to one with operations in more than 30 countries, with more than 550 employees and a market value of nearly $3 Billion. John’s involvement with biotechnology stems from the 1998 diagnosis of two of his children with Pompe disease – a severe, and often fatal neuromuscular disorder. In his drive to find a cure for them, he left his position at Bristol-Myers Squibb and became an entrepreneur as the co-founder, president and CEO of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, a biotech start-up conducting research on a new experimental treatment for Pompe disease, which he credits as ultimately saving his children's lives. In 2001, Novazyme was acquired by Genzyme Corporation and John continued to play a lead role in the development of a drug for Pompe disease as Senior Vice President, Genzyme Therapeutics.

John and his family have been profiled on the front page of The Wall Street Journal and are the subjects of a book by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Geeta Anand, "The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million-And Bucked the Medical Establishment-In a Quest to Save His Children." The major motion picture, “Extraordinary Measures,” starring Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford, is inspired by the Crowley family journey. John is the author of a personal memoir, “Chasing Miracles: The Crowley Family Journey of Strength, Hope, and Joy.”

John served as a commissioned intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 2005 to 2016, assigned to the United States Special Operations Command and is a veteran of the global war on terrorism, with service in Afghanistan. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in foreign service from Georgetown University, and earned a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and an MBA from Harvard. The Crowley family was the recipient of the 2011 Family Exemplar Award from the University of Notre Dame. He is also a member of the University Council on Science & Technology at Notre Dame. John served as the national chairman of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America (2014-2016) and is a founding board member of the Global Genes Project. John is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.