Carmichael Roberts brings a materials-science and commercialization background to Breakthrough Energy Ventures that's genuinely distinctive among climate investors. After a Duke PhD in organic chemistry and roles at GelTex Pharmaceuticals - acquired by Genzyme for $1.3 billion - and Dow Chemical, he built a career licensing university technology and commercializing it through targeted Fortune 500 partnerships, an approach he later formalized by co-founding Material Impact. That same licensing-and-commercialization playbook now shapes how he co-leads BEV's investment committee, evaluating climate technologies against the fund's unusually strict bar: real, credible potential to eliminate at least 1% of global emissions. He serves as Vice Chairman of Duke's Board of Trustees and on the boards of the Consumer Technology Association and Massachusetts General Hospital's Physicians Organization.
Education
BS, Organic Chemistry, Duke University
PhD, Organic Chemistry, Duke University
Previous Experience
Business Development, GelTex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Genzyme for $1.3B)
New Product & Business Development, Dow Chemical (formerly Union Carbide)
President/CEO or Chairman, multiple materials-innovation ventures
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Material Impact
Notable Investments
Pivot BioWeaveGridOur Next EnergyDandelion EnergyBlue FrontierBlue World TechnologiesRondo EnergyMolten Industries
Board Seats
Consumer Technology Association
WGBH
Massachusetts General Hospital Physicians Organization
Career Timeline
1998
Works in business development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals, later acquired by Genzyme for $1.3 billion.
2010s
Co-founds Material Impact, a fund building technology companies around materials innovation.
2013
Elected to Duke University's Board of Trustees, later serving as Vice Chairman.
2016
Joins Breakthrough Energy Ventures as Investment Committee Co-Lead.