Steen Riisgaard

President and CEO

Born March 22, 1951

Steen Riisgaard is President and CEO of Novozymes A/S, a position he has held since Novozymes A/S was demerged from Novo Nordisk A/S in 2000.

Holding an MSc in Microbiology from the University of Copenhagen, Mr Riisgaard joined Novo Nordisk in 1979 in Enzymes Research & Development.

In 1982 he moved to Tokyo to start up an enzymes research & development unit in the Novo Nordisk subsidiary Novo Industri Japan Ltd. After his return to Denmark in 1985, he held a range of jobs in the company before he was promoted to Corporate Executive Vice President with special responsibility for Enzyme Business in 1989.

Today, Mr Riisgaard draws on 30 years’ experience of working in the field of enzymes. Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, he was a research fellow at the Serum Institute of Denmark and a research microbiologist at Foss Electric, Denmark.

Mr Riisgaard is also Chairman of WWF (the World Wildlife Fund) Denmark and Chairman of the BoD for ALK-Abello A/S. He is Vice Chairman of the boards of Egmont International Holding A/S and Rockwool International A/S, and serves on the board of CAT Science Park A/S.