Stephen Padgette
Steve Padgette is currently an Operating Director at Paine & Partners, LLC, a global leading private equity investment firm focused on investing in food and agribusiness. Dr. Padgette works to identify new investment opportunities for the firm and assist current portfolio companies in executing their strategies.
Prior to joining Paine & Partners in 2016, Dr. Padgette had a distinguished career at Monsanto. Steve joined Monsanto in 1984, focusing on the development of enzymes and genes to confer glyphosate-tolerance to crop plants. Dr. Padgette is co- inventor of the gene which confers the Roundup Ready® trait, led the regulatory sciences studies for safety approvals of Roundup Ready® soybean, cotton and canola and co-wrote the successful FDA and USDA regulatory submissions for Roundup Ready® soybean. In 1998, he was appointed Vice President, Biotechnology, and during his tenure Monsanto Biotechnology strengthened its industry-leading position in the discovery, development and commercialization of crop biotechnology traits in corn, soybean, cotton, canola and other crops.
In 2011, Dr. Padgette assumed the role of Vice President, R&D Investment Strategy at Monsanto, and was responsible for internal and external R&D investment strategies. He also launched Monsanto Growth Ventures corporate venture capital group, which by early 2016 had delivered over 20 investments in biologicals, imaging, chemistry, precision agriculture, biotechnology, and robotics. In addition, Dr. Padgette led negotiations and was the first Managing Director of the BioAg Alliance between Monsanto and Novozymes, focusing on microbial solutions for crop improvement.
Dr. Padgette serves on the External Advisory Boards of the Georgia Institute of Technology Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr. Padgette received a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University.
