James C Greenwood

Personal life

Greenwood was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Holland, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson College with a B.A. in sociology in 1973, served as an aide to state Representative John S. Renninger and as a houseparent for children with intellectual disabilities and emotional disorders. From 1977 until 1980, he was a caseworker for the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Service Agency, working with abused and neglected children.

He and his wife, Tina, have four children.

Political career

Greenwood was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1980 as a Republican and the Pennsylvania Senate in 1986. In 1992, Greenwood defeated Democratic Congressman Peter H. Kostmayer for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Pennsylvania’s 8th district.

As a centrist with libertarian views on social issues and conservative stances on taxes and economic issues, Greenwood's overall voting record was moderate. He was known as an effective legislator. He voted against two of the four impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton in 1998, and sided with the House Democrats to oppose Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003. He also served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and was Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. In this role, he led investigations and held hearings on a variety of issues within the vast jurisdiction of the Committee including corporate governance, bioterrorism, port and border security, drug importation, and the safety of nuclear power plants.

A co-founder and co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, Greenwood was the author of comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to preserve, protect, and research ocean resources. He also worked to increase communication among world leaders to address international environmental issues. As a member of the Education and Workforce Committee, he was a leading voice in the efforts to ensure that sufficient federal funds were appropriated to meet the needs of children in special education programs and to prevent school violence.

Greenwood announced in the midst of the 2004 congressional election that he would not seek re-election and retire. He had already won the 8th district's Republican primary, and his abrupt withdrawal raised many questions. Greenwood released a statement saying: "From time to time during my twenty four years of public service, I have been approached and offered other types of challenges and opportunities. Such has been the case in the last few days, and I am currently reviewing one of these opportunities. I will make my decision public in the very near future and will have no other statement until then."

After serving six terms in Congress, Greenwood was appointed President and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), a biotechnology trade association based in Washington, DC.

After politics

Greenwood is currently the president and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of healthcare, agriculture, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

In addition to his work with BIO, Greenwood is a member of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense, a group that advocates and encourages changes to U.S. policy to make national biodefense systems stronger.

Greenwood is also a member of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's Advisory Board. Greenwood is also a member of Marine Conservation Biology Institute's Board of Directors. In 2014, Greenwood joined the board of directors of the National Audubon Society.

He is also a member of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense. In order to address biological threats facing the nation, the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense created a 33 step initiative for the U.S. Government to implement. Headed by former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Governor Tom Ridge, the Study Panel assembled in Washington D.C. for four meetings concerning current biodefense programs. The Study Panel concluded that the federal government had little to no defense mechanisms in case of a biological event. The Study Panel's final report, The National Blueprint for Biodefense, proposes a string of solutions and recommendations for the U.S. Government to take, including items such as giving the Vice President authority over biodefense responsibilities and merging the entire biodefense budget. These solutions represent the Panel's call to action in order to increase awareness and activity for pandemic related issues.

Electoral history

*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1996, write-ins received 12 votes. In 1998, Natural Law candidate Carolyn Boyce received 1,022 votes and write-ins received 15 votes. In 2002, write-ins received 34 votes.