John F. Crowley
John F. Crowley
John F. Crowley is a visionary advocate and leader in advancing therapies for people living with rare diseases. Currently, he is the executive chairman and former CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, a global biotechnology company focusing on developing treatments for rare genetic diseases. John was Amicus’ chief executive from 2005 to July 2022 and had overseen the company’s growth from a four-person start-up to one with operations in more than 30 countries, with 500+ employees and a market value of more than $3 billion.
His involvement with biotechnology stems from the 1998 diagnosis of two of his children with Pompe disease, a severe and often fatal neuromuscular disorder. In his drive to find a cure for them, John left his position at Bristol-Myers Squibb and became an entrepreneur as the co-founder, president and chief executive of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, a biotech start-up conducting research on a new experimental treatment for Pompe disease, which he credits as ultimately saving his children’s lives. In 2001, Novazyme was acquired by Genzyme Corporation (now Sanofi), and John continued to play a lead role in the development of a drug for Pompe disease as senior vice president at Genzyme.
He has held leadership roles at several nonprofits, including the Global Genes Project as a founding board member and the Make-A-Wish Foundation as a former national chairman. John also is a member of the University Council on Science & Technology at Notre Dame and a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. The Crowley family was the recipient of the 2011 Family Exemplar Award from the University of Notre Dame.
John graduated with a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He additionally earned a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School. John also served as a commissioned intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve for more than a decade, assigned to the U.S. Special Operations Command and is a combat veteran of the Global War on Terrorism, with service in Afghanistan.
