Dr. Robert Scott

Biography

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Born in New Jersey and raised in Suffolk, Virginia, Dr. Scott was the first in his family to attend college. He attended Norfolk State University, a historically Black university in Norfolk, Virginia, as a DNIMAS Scholar. The DNIMAS Scholar program, created through a generous gift to the university, addresses the severe shortage of minority scientists in the workforce by attracting and producing undergraduates who can complete graduate degrees in STEM. After earning a biology degree from Norfolk State, he then entered the graduate program at Georgia Tech, with a research focus in cell and molecular biology, and became the first DNIMAS Scholar to receive a Ph.D.

After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Scott became a biology professor at Norfolk State. He later served as an associate dean at both Boston College and Spelman College. In these roles, he gained leadership experience, oversaw curriculum development, secured research funding and mentored future leaders, all while prioritizing student success.

In his most recent role at The Kraft Heinz Co., Dr. Scott worked to transform the company’s R&D organization model, departmental strategy and culture in order to drive business transformation.  Among his responsibilities, he worked to foster partnerships between corporations and universities.

“These types of industry-academia partnerships create benefits like research funding, student co-ops, internships and permanent employment placements, as well as endowed faculty positions,” Dr. Scott said.

In his time at Kraft Heinz, he led a R&D transformation that has helped the company track toward delivering an innovation growth goal of $2 billion in incremental sales, increased revenue attributed to innovation by double digits and created a culture of engagement which led to a reduction in voluntary turnover in his organization by more than 50%.

At Abbott Nutrition, Dr. Scott led a global team to deliver science and technology-based nutritional products to consumers and healthcare providers. During his tenure at The Coca-Cola Co., he led corporate teams in the United States, Europe and Asia from Atlanta and then lived abroad in Mexico to lead Coca-Cola’s Latin America R&D organization, helping to commercialize consumer-centric product innovations and packaging solutions that supported company environmental and sustainability goals. Dr. Scott also worked for Procter & Gamble as a senior scientist. In each corporate role, academic partnerships were a key enabler of his success.