S. John Byington
General Counsel
Managing Partner in Washington, D. C.

Mr. Byington is an experienced, senior legal executive and corporate development specialist. He has designed and negotiated numerous corporate financings, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic investments, and partnerships, as well as licensing and teaming agreements. An entrepreneur in his own right, Mr. Byington has been a member of the founding group of two communications companies, a microbrewery, two biotech product companies, a demonstrative evidence/medical illustration firm, and an advanced document imaging marketing company.

From 1961 until 1964, Mr. Byington served as Director of Public Affairs and Public Relations for the American Pharmaceutical Association in Washington, D.C. He returned to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1964 to become Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of Kent County and was active in Michigan Governor George Romney’s re-election campaign. In 1965, Mr. Byington joined Governor Romney’s staff and served in various capacities until 1968. From then until joining the U.S. Department of Commerce in mid-1972 as Director of the Detroit Office, he practiced law and held corporate executive posts in Michigan-based communications and international trade firms. Moving to Washington, D.C., in late 1972, he returned to government service as National Export Marketing Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In 1974, he assumed the White House post of Deputy Special Assistant to President Ford for Consumer Affairs, as well as Deputy Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. President Ford appointed him Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 1976, where he served until 1978. During his tenure as Chairman of the CPSC, he co-founded the Interagency Regulatory Liaison Group (IRLG), which was composed of the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the CPSC. Returning to private law practice in 1978, Mr. Byington joined Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro in 1983, as partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the California-based law firm. His practice primarily focused on corporate and regulatory matters at both the federal and state levels. In 1992, Mr. Byington became President and Chief Executive Officer of Synthecell/Vega Biomolecules Corporation, which produced customized DNA and peptide molecules for the research, diagnostic, and therapeutic markets. In 1994, he joined Buckner & Company, a corporate development firm specializing in U.S./Mexico strategic alliance and investments, one of the firms he represented in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Byington obtained his pharmacy degree from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, and his Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Mr. Byington holds an Honorary Doctorate degree from the Albany School of Pharmacy and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Ferris State University. He is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society and Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity. President Reagan appointed Mr. Byington to the Aviation Safety Commission in 1987. The seven-member Commission served until April 1988, when they issued their final report and recommendations to the President.