The bionorthTX Board of Directors has announced that Darlene M. Boudreaux, CFO and coach at TechFW, is the recipient of its 2018 Dennis K. Stone Award.
The award is presented annually by bionorthTX to an individual who has positively affected quality of life by raising awareness and funds for life science research, who has impacted innovation to bring discoveries to commercial relevance, and who has given back to the community and those in the scientific field as a supporter, mentor, leader or educator.
TechFW is a non-profit technology incubator that is supported by the University of North Texas Health Science Center, University of Texas at Arlington, the City of Fort Worth and the local business community. It helps entrepreneurs launch and grow emerging technology companies that have a high potential for success and works to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in North Texas.
Boudreaux was Executive Director for TechFW from August 2006 through September 2018, when she announced her part-time responsibilities with TechFW. She will continue to coach TechFW clients in the life science industry and has established Darlene BDX, LLC to continue entrepreneur and CEO coaching, business plan development, financial management and other activities to assist developing organizations in achieving the next level of success.
Boudreaux created programs at TechFW to help entrepreneurs get their companies off the ground, working with successful startups such as ZS Pharma (acquired by AstraZeneca in 2015) and Encore Vision (acquired by Novartis in 2016).
In 2012, she also created the Cowtown Angels to bring local angel investors together to consider investments in local entrepreneurial ventures. During her time with TechFW, Boudreaux coached more than 100 companies from technology protection to sales and helped many others pitch to prospective investors.
From 1994-2006, she was co-founder and CEO of PharmaFab, a pharmaceutical manufacturing and technology company in Grand Prairie, Texas. PharmaFab was on the Inc 500 list of the fastest-growing, private companies in America three consecutive years and on the Dallas 100 list five consecutive years. She helped grow its revenues to $28 million in 10 years.
Boudreaux was named a 2003 Healthcare Hero by the Fort Worth Business Press and the 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Life Sciences for the Southwest Region of the U.S. In 2004, she was recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives as the only American named to the list of the nine Leading Women Entrepreneurs in the world, and the Fort Worth City Council proclaimed a day in her honor. Recently, Boudreaux was included on a list of the 400 Most Influential People in Fort Worth.
Boudreaux serves on the Tarrant County Board for the American Heart Association and on the advisory boards for the UTA College of Engineering and the UTA Department of Biomedical Engineering. She has also been a member of the advisory boards for the TCU College of Engineering and Science, the UNT Murphy Enterprise Center and the UNT College of Arts and Sciences. Nationally, she has served on the boards of the International Business Innovation Association, the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, and DePauw University.
Boudreaux graduated from DePauw with a B.A. and a double major in mathematics and German. She also holds an M.B.A. in accounting and finance and a minor in marketing from the University of Chicago, and is a Certified Public Accountant. Boudreaux is an adjunct professor in the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University, where she teaches a course in Family Business.
Past recipients of the Dennis K. Stone Award:
2015 – Phil Ralston, CEO and Co-Founder of MacuCLEAR.
2016 – Dennis K. Stone, Chief Scientific Officer of Remeditex Ventures.
2017 – Lyda Hill, Philanthropist and Entrepreneur.
The award will be presented by the 2017 recipient, Lyda Hill, at the Fourth Annual iC3 Life Science Summit on Wednesday October 10, 2018 at the University of Texas at Arlington.
TechFW is a non-profit organization that helps entrepreneurs launch and grow emerging technology companies that have a high potential for success. It mentors, coaches and relentlessly pushes them toward success. TechFW has offices at the James E. Guinn Complex in Fort Worth and is supported by the UNT Health Science Center, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the City of Fort Worth. For more information, contact Darlene Boudreaux at (817) 984-9840 or darlene@techfw.org or contact Hayden Blackburn at (817) 984-9841 or hayden@techfw.org .
