Martine Rothblatt, JD, PhD

Martine Rothblatt is chairman and CEO of United Therapeutics, a biotechnology company she started to save the life of one of her daughters. The company offers U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved medicines for pulmonary hypertension and neuroblastoma and is working on manufacturing an unlimited supply of transplantable organs.

Dr. Rothblatt previously created and led Sirius XM as its chairman and CEO and launched other satellite systems for navigation and international television broadcasting. In the field of aviation, her Sirius XM satellite system enhances safety with real-time digital weather information to pilots in flight nationwide. She also designed the world’s first electric helicopter and piloted it to a Guinness world record for speed, altitude and flight duration.

In the legal arena, Dr. Rothblatt led efforts of the International Bar Association to protect autonomy rights in genetic information via an international treaty. She also published dozens of scholarly articles and papers on the law of outer space, resulting in her election to the International Institute of Space Law and represented the radio astronomy community’s scientific research interests before the Federal Communications Commission.

She has a bachelor’s degree in communications studies, summa cum laude, a J.D. (Order of the Coif) and an MBA degree from UCLA, which in 2018 awarded her its highest recognition, the UCLA Medal. She also has a Ph.D. in medical ethics from the Royal London School of Medicine & Dentistry. Her patented inventions cover aspects of satellite communication, medicinal biochemistry and cognitive software. Dr. Rothblatt is an author of multiple books and occasionally posts on Instagram and Twitter.