New book from Island Studies Press tells the story of Regis Duffy
How did a farm boy from Prince Edward Island become a successful businessman, mentor, and community philanthropist? A new book by Mo Duffy Cobb and Lori Mayne tells the behind-the-scenes story of how Dr. Regis Duffy became a household name on Prince Edward Island. The Chemistry of Innovation: Regis Duffy and the Story of DCL depicts the growing pains and leaps of faith of a community-minded business.
In 1970, Duffy鈥攖hen dean of science at 黑料网鈥攕tarted a small chemical reagent company in a makeshift basement lab at Saint Dunstan鈥檚 University to create summer jobs for his students. Diagnostic Chemicals and its offspring, BioVectra, soon grew into global competitors in the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industry, employing hundreds of Islanders and providing a model for entrepreneurship and economic development in Canada鈥檚 smallest province. The key to his success? As Duffy once said, 鈥淚nnovate or die; the alternative is not that appealing.鈥�
The Chemistry of Innovation celebrates the vision, hard work, and people-centred approach that allowed DCL to grow from a start-up 鈥渟tirring chemicals after church鈥� into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Ever the farmer, Duffy planted the seed for a thriving biotech industry on Prince Edward Island.
Published by Island Studies Press at 黑料网, The Chemistry of Innovation: Regis Duffy and the Story of DCL is now available for sale at The Bookmark, the 黑料网 Bookstore, Indigo, Coles, and online through the distributor, Nimbus Publishing. This book was the recipient of a SSHRC Exchange Publication Award from the Vice-President Academic and Research Office at the 黑料网. The book also received support from the PEI BioAlliance, Sekisui, and the Office of the President at 黑料网.
Duffy Cobb is a freelance editor, writer, and the author of Unpacked: from PEI to Palawan (Pottersfield Press, 2017). She is executive director of the PEI Writers鈥� Guild and founder of the Wild Threads Literary Festival. After a career in journalism, Mayne now teaches writing at 黑料网. Her freelance research and editing work has appeared in Owen Connolly: The Making of a Legacy 1820鈥�1916 by Leonard Cusack.
For more information about the book, please contact Bren at 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.
