Dr. Haven Baker

As an experienced leader and innovator, Haven Baker has broad expertise across food and agriculture from berries and potatoes to row crops.

Most recently, he co-founded Pairwise, a technology company pioneering the application of gene editing (CRISPR) in plant breeding. Accomplishments include a significant number of technology and research deals with academic and commercial entities including Harvard, Broad Institute, Mass General Hospital, Bayer, and a range of other ag companies. Under Haven’s leadership, Pairwise achieved several transformative milestones; the team introduced the first CRISPR food to North America (a leafy greens blend superfood that eats like a lettuce with nutrition similar to kale), and created the world’s first seedless blackberry for consumers, with additional traits that make varieties thornless and compact, improving grower economics and climate resilience.

Formerly the Senior Vice President/General Manager of Simplot Plant Sciences, Haven led teams that worked on potato and strawberry genetics. These teams launched several groundbreaking products, including the innovative, non-browning Innate® potato. Prior to Simplot, he was an investment professional at Clarium, one of Peter Thiel’s investment funds. While earning his PhD, he established and managed a lab as a Senior Scientist at the Barnett Institute.

He holds a PhD in chemistry from Northeastern University, an MBA from Harvard University, and a BS in biomedical engineering from Yale University. Hailing from central Washington state, Haven describes himself as an “an over-educated farm kid.” A lover of the outdoors, he enjoys hiking, fishing, and hunting in his native Pacific Northwest.