# Joshua Boger

> Joshua Boger is an American chemist, founder and former CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, board chair at CervoMed, underwater photographer, and supporter of education, entrepreneurship, and the performing arts. He studied chemistry and philosophy at Wesleyan and chemistry at Harvard; his public commitments include scholarships, startup mentoring, and arts innovation funds.

- **Role:** Chair of the Board at CervoMed
- **Organizations:** Vertex Pharmaceuticals, CervoMed, Merck, MassChallenge, Wesleyan University, Vivo Performing Arts (formerly Celebrity Series of Boston), Boger Family Foundation, Fort Point Arts Community
- **From:** Concord, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA, chemistry and philosophy, Wesleyan University, AM, chemistry, Harvard University, PhD, chemistry, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Founded Vertex in 1989 and served as CEO from 1992 to May 2009., Recipient of the Science History Institute’s 2018 Othmer Gold Medal., Harvard biography credits him with more than 50 scientific publications and 32 issued US patents.

## Career timeline

- **1973** — Graduated from Wesleyan with a BA in chemistry and philosophy.
- **1978** — Began his industry career at Merck.
- **1989** — Founded Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
- **1992-2009** — Served as CEO of Vertex, leaving the role in May 2009.
- **1997-2006** — Served as Vertex board chairman.
- **2000** — Began exploring underwater photography.
- **2009-2016** — Chaired Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees.
- **2016** — Wesleyan announced a $20 million gift from Joshua and Amy Boger and the naming of Boger Hall.
- **2017** — Left Vertex’s board in June; Amy & Joshua Boger Innovation Fund established at Celebrity Series.
- **2018** — Received the Othmer Gold Medal.
- **2024** — Appointed CervoMed board chair; announced the Soul Windows photography exhibition.
- **2026** — Amy and Joshua Boger committed $2 million to establish the MC Innovation Fund at MassChallenge.

## Achievements

- Founded Vertex in 1989 and served as CEO from 1992 to May 2009.
- Recipient of the Science History Institute’s 2018 Othmer Gold Medal.
- Harvard biography credits him with more than 50 scientific publications and 32 issued US patents.
- Joshua and Amy Boger’s $20 million Wesleyan gift included $11 million for scholarships.
- Founding chair of MassChallenge’s governing board.
- Exhibited underwater photographs at Wesleyan and Bentley.
- The Amy & Joshua Boger Innovation Fund has helped resource more than 125 projects since the 2018/19 season.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Amy and Joshua Boger gave $2 million to establish MassChallenge’s MC Innovation Fund, announced October 8.
- **2026-09** — Vivo’s 2025/26 annual report announced a board-chair transition from Boger to Cherié Butts, with her term scheduled to begin September 29, 2026.
- **2026-03** — CervoMed’s annual report listed Boger as chair of its board.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaboger
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.boger

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joshua-boger
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23