Jonah Shacknai

Jonah Shacknai, founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation since 1988, has an extremely well diversified corporate and public service background. From 1977 until late 1982, Mr. Shacknai served as chief aide to the House of Representatives' committee with responsibility for health policy, and in other senior legislative positions. During his service with the House of Representatives, Mr. Shacknai drafted significant legislation affecting health care, environmental protection, science policy, and consumer protection. He was also a member of the Commission on the Federal Drug Approval Process, and the National Council on Drugs. From 1982 to 1988, as senior partner in the law firm of Royer, Shacknai, and Mehle, Mr. Shacknai represented over 30 multinational pharmaceutical and medical device concerns, as well as four major industry trade associations. Mr. Shacknai also served in an executive capacity with Key Pharmaceuticals, Inc., prior to its acquisition by Schering-Plough Corporation. In November 1999, Mr. Shacknai was selected to serve on the Listed Company Advisory Committee to the New York Stock Exchange (LCAC). The LCAC was created in 1976 by the New York Stock Exchange board to address issues that are of critical importance to the Exchange and the corporate community. In May 2002, Mr. Shacknai was honored with a Doctorate of Humane Letters by the NYCPM (affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons), and in the Fall of 2001, he received the national award from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge®. In January 2000, Mr. Shacknai was selected as Entrepreneurial Fellow at the Karl Eller Center of the University of Arizona. Mr. Shacknai is president and director of the Whispering Hope Ranch Foundation, a ranch centered around special needs children, and is an honorary director of Delta Society, a public service organization promoting animal-human bonds. He is also a director of the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center and the World Craniofacial Foundation, and a director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. In 1997, he received the Arizona Entrepreneur of the Year award, and was one of three finalists for U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Shacknai has served as a member of the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health, and on the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission, both federal cabinet-appointed positions. Mr. Shacknai obtained a B.S. degree from Colgate University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.