# Lisa Drakeman

> Lisa Drakeman is Genmab’s co-founder and retired founding CEO, a Princeton-trained historian, author, and wine educator based in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. After leading Genmab through its 2000 IPO and more than $1 billion in capital raising during her tenure, she developed a second career in wine education, leads Convivio, and writes about business, wine, and history.

- **Role:** President at Convivio
- **Organizations:** Genmab (co-founder and former CEO), Medarex (former senior vice president, head of business development), Convivio, Princeton University (alumna and former faculty member), Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization (board member), Cambridge Judge Business School (fellow; identified in public author biography)
- **Nationality:** American and Italian
- **Education:** BA, with honors, Mount Holyoke College, MA, Rutgers University, MA and PhD; doctoral field: history of American religion, Princeton University, Certified Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers, Certified Specialist of Wine, Society of Wine Educators, Diploma in Wines with Merit; Advanced Level with Distinction, Wine & Spirit Education Trust
- **Known for:** Led Genmab during a tenure in which it raised over US$1 billion in capital., Led Genmab’s 2000 IPO, described in its 2010 retirement announcement as the largest European biotechnology IPO to that date., Inducted into the New Jersey High-Tech Hall of Fame in 2000.

## Career timeline

- **1988** — Earned her PhD at Princeton University.
- **1990** — Began helping at Medarex while teaching religion at Princeton, according to the 2005 career profile excerpt reproduced on her book website.
- **1999** — Co-founded Genmab and became its founding CEO.
- **2000** — Led Genmab through its initial public offering and was inducted into the New Jersey High-Tech Hall of Fame.
- **2005** — Genmab received the James D. Watson Helix Award for the international biotechnology company category.
- **2007** — Genmab received Scrip’s Biotechnology Company of the Year award.
- **2009** — Received BioNJ’s Dr. Sol J. Barer Award for Vision, Innovation and Leadership.
- **2010** — Retired as Genmab CEO and board member on June 15; she and her husband retired to Hilton Head that year.
- **2012** — Convivio began offering wine dinners.
- **2016** — Began leading wine tastings at Wadham College, Oxford.
- **2019** — Spoke at Cambridge’s seventh annual biotechnology entrepreneurship event and led its wine dinner at Gonville and Caius College.
- **2022** — Coauthored From Breakthrough to Blockbuster: The Business of Biotechnology, published by Oxford University Press.
- **2025** — Coauthored two Law & Liberty essays connecting wine with constitutional and religious history.

## Achievements

- Led Genmab during a tenure in which it raised over US$1 billion in capital.
- Led Genmab’s 2000 IPO, described in its 2010 retirement announcement as the largest European biotechnology IPO to that date.
- Inducted into the New Jersey High-Tech Hall of Fame in 2000.
- Received the Dr. Sol J. Barer Award for Vision, Innovation and Leadership in 2009.
- Earned the WSET Diploma in Wines with Merit.
- Coauthored From Breakthrough to Blockbuster: The Business of Biotechnology with Donald L. Drakeman and Nektarios Oraiopoulos.

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Coauthored “A Toast to Religious Exemptions” with Donald L. Drakeman in Law & Liberty, published November 26.
- **2025-09** — Coauthored “The Wine Key to the Constitution” with Donald L. Drakeman in Law & Liberty, published September 17.

## Links

- Website: https://www.findyourwinestyles.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-drakeman-ph-d-dipwset-1691b035

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/lisa-drakeman
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22