The Allen Institute has found a replacement for longtime CEO Allan Jones, who is stepping down after 18 years with the Seattle-based nonprofit.
On Thursday, the Allen Institute named Rui Costa as its next CEO and president. Costa has been the CEO of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University since 2017, and he was already on the Allen Institute's Brain Science Scientific Advisory Council.
“I firmly believe in the institute’s core principles of pursuing big quests using team and open science," Costa said in a news release. "My goal is to further this style of science into a new era of discovery and impact. Knowledge and science have the power to transform societies."
According to the Allen Institute, Costa received his doctorate from UCLA and University of Porto before doing post-doctoral work at Duke University, and he became a professor at Columbia in 2016. In a release, the Allen Institute said Costa's studies focus "on the circuits underlying diverse, spontaneous movements, and the organization and refinement of movements during learning." The Allen Institute added his brain research will continue at the institute.
Jones announced in January his plans to step down this year after first joining the Allen Institute in 2003, the year the institute was founded, and becoming its first CEO in 2010. Rob Piercy, director of media relations for the institute, previously told the Business Journal the executive search firm Isaacson Miller was leading the search.
Jones is joining the Allen Institute's board of directors, and he will hold the title of president emeritus. The Allen Institute said Jones oversaw $150 million from external sources during his time, and the institute grew to more than 500 employees during his 18 years.
Jody Allen and Paul Allen, Microsoft's co-founder, founded the Allen Institute. The institute supports bioscience and global research. Its divisions include the Allen Institute for Cell Science, the Allen Institute for Immunology, the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, which launched in November.
“We are so pleased to welcome Rui to the Allen Institute, and all of us on the board of directors look forward to working more closely with him,” Jody Allen, who is also the board chair, said in a news release. “As an active researcher and scientist he has already been a trusted advisor for several years, helping accelerate our impact in brain science."
