For Christy L. Shaffer, dreams of a Ph.D. didn’t begin after high school, but during childhood. While in the fifth grade, her parents bought a family resort and moved the household from Illinois to western Tennessee. Rather than simply focus on being a kid and enjoying the amenities that came with growing up on a resort, Shaffer turned the fun all around her into an endless learning experience. She organized pool parties and watermelon-eating contests and learned about teamwork, organizational skills and effective communication. “I had many opportunities growing up to learn how to interact with customers and run a small business,” Shaffer says, “and I had many jobs at the resort and 12-hour work days during the summer were the norm.”

The opportunity to work at the family-run business, together with a few proven maxims taught to Shaffer by her parents – “Work hard and do your best; do unto others as others would do unto you” – have propelled her to the top of the business world as an executive with Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Durham.

A lifelong interest in science and a move to North Carolina led Shaffer into the biotechnology industry. “I expected to stay in academia when I moved to North Carolina with my husband,” says Shaffer. “We moved here when he was recruited by Glaxo, Inc. to head the Cardiovascular Pharmacology Department. I took a postdoctoral position in the pharmacology department at UNC. Little did I know that the receptor system I was working on at UNC would become a platform technology for a future company in RTP, called Inspire.” Her postdoctoral adviser recommended Shaffer for a clinical research job at Burroughs Wellcome in nearby Research Triangle Park as she considered career options.

“I loved Burroughs Wellcome when I interviewed and felt it was the 'right place' for me, with a blend of industry and academia,” says Shaffer of the independent private foundation that supports scientific research. “They were known for excellent products based on strong science, and had two Nobel Prize winners working at the company at the time. Also, I was impressed that the company had a culture that suggested they cared about their employees and their families.”

Shaffer’s eventual move to Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. further advanced her career and helped reinforce her view that more women should consider working in her field: “The biotechnology field is very exciting and is open to women, in my view. Take as many opportunities as possible to learn what you love ... passion is everything!”

And for Shaffer, so is an ability to lead. “I believe I am good at motivating others to reach beyond what they thought was possible,” she says. “This is what makes an effective leader. My mother would probably say I was a leader from a young age by organizing many neighborhood tea parties. I also had a lot of opportunities in college to take on leadership roles. For example, I was executive vice president, pledge director and president of my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi.”

Shaffer is not one to utilize her strengths only for her own benefit, and has served for a number of industry and community groups. These include service as chairwoman of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development and membership on the boards of the N.C. Biotechnology Center, N.C. Bio, the foundation boards for the N.C. Museum of Art, and the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics. “I also am very involved in community service, and co-chaired the AHA walk several years ago and work with my church to support a non-profit organization in Guatemala, called Safe Passage, that educates children to give them a chance in life,” she adds.

Shaffer says she has had few obstacles in her life – and even when she did, she turned them to her advantage. A case in point was overcoming an opinion initially held by her thesis advisor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “I had a male thesis adviser who was not excited about having a female graduate student,” she says. “I was, in fact, his first, and he was convinced I would be a disappointment.” A very bright postdoctorate fellow in the lab encouraged her to take on the challenge, stating that it the best lab and opportunity in the department. “He helped me set up my initial project and continued to encourage me until he finished his postdoc about a year later,” she says. “The experience was spectacular and it led me to many things in my career. The postdoc who helped me was so wonderful that I decided to marry him a few years later. We have been married for more than 20 years.”

She and husband, Joel E. Shaffer, Ph.D., also have two daughters – Elizabeth, 21, and Kelsey, 16. “Both are very independent and they constantly challenge my assumptions,” Shaffer says. “Therefore, they keep me humble. They also make sure that I don’t lose perspective and remember to do 'good things' for the world.”