Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to its Board of Directors: Kirk Nelson and Robert Williams, PhD. Their terms of service are effective this month.

Mr. Nelson is Chief Executive Officer and President of AAA Washington and previously served as Washington President of Qwest. As former chair of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Washington Business (AWB), the Community Development Roundtable, the Seattle Sports Commission and the Seattle-King County Sports and Events Council, Mr. Nelson has extensive experience as a civic leader. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Seattle Sports Commission and is a director on the boards of AAA Washington, Forterra, Inc., and the American Commerce Insurance Company. Mr. Nelson earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University and his MBA from Seattle University.

Dr. Williams started his career as a research scientist with GE and holds ten U.S. patents in the fields of silicone chemistry, organometallic catalysis and polymer chemistry. He was a general manager for GE Plastics and Silicones businesses in Europe and president of GE-Toshiba Silicones in Hong Kong before returning to the U.S. and joining Microsoft, where he held leadership positions in the Windows and Windows Phone product groups. Dr. Williams also served as Director of the Amazon Appstore for six years. He serves on the External Advisory Board for the University of North Carolina Department of Chemistry, as well as the Finance and Sail Committees at the Seattle Yacht Club. Dr. Williams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Colorado State University.

About Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) is a world-renowned, non-profit research institute committed to advancing the science that will predict, prevent, reverse and cure diseases of the immune system. BRI researchers uniquely study the immune system in both health and disease, with the ultimate goal of achieving a healthy immune system for each individual. Diseases we study include type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s and colitis as well as allergies and cancer. BRI accelerates discovery through laboratory breakthroughs in immunology that can be translated to clinical therapies. A leader of collaborative initiatives such as the Immune Tolerance Network and Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, BRI frequently partners with global research institutes, pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

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