Bonnie Harbison Anderson is conquering new worlds as a cofounder and chief executive officer of Veracyte, a molecular diagnostics company, and she’s enjoying every minute of it. “I’ve probably learned more in the past four years than the previous 14,” Ms. Anderson said, referring to her work in the start-up company she created to transform the cytology market for early cancer diagnosis, elimination of unnecessary and costly procedures and surgeries, as well as significant cost savings to the health-care system. After graduating from IUP in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in medical technology, Ms. Anderson worked for four years in hospital laboratories before being recruited into diagnostic equipment sales, where she built an impressive career in the health-care diagnostics and life science markets. She has directed both early stage businesses, as well as mature, global enterprises. Before Veracyte, she provided strategic consulting services to venture capital firms and early stage businesses. Ms. Anderson spent 18 years in executive leadership positions at Beckman Coulter, a global leader in health care. She led the company’s market-leading cellular analysis franchise in hematology and flow cytometry, and, as vice president of the intrapreneurial start-up Immunomics Operations, she successfully positioned the company’s novel tetramer technology as a vehicle for drug and vaccine developers to monitor immune response. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, where she has been engaged in contributing to the education of future life sciences leaders for the industry for more than 10 years. She also supports local charities such as Coastside Hope and Mariners Church. Although she does not have a degree in business, Ms. Anderson attributes her success to the solid education she received at IUP, combined with a lifetime focus on development. “It’s the American Dream,” she said. “I’ve always admired people who are doing things they never imagined.” Her selection as a 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is a great honor, she said. “It’s wonderful. I’m particularly pleased that my parents, Jim and Donna Harbison, who are lifelong Indiana residents, will be with me at the ceremony.” Ms. Anderson lives in Half Moon Bay, California, with her husband, Steve Anderson. Her son and daughter-in-law, Matthew and Audrey Price, live in Scottsdale, Arizona, and her daughter and son-in-law, Ashley and Michael Petroczky, reside in Tallahassee, Florida. Profile published on 5/29/12