Carmichael is a founding partner of Material Impact, a fund that builds valuable companies that solve real-world problems using innovative materials technology. In addition to Material Impact, Dr. Roberts is also a senior member of Breakthrough Energy, a mission-oriented group chaired by Bill Gates committed to creating and building companies that address climate change and the long-term sustainability of the planet. Carmichael started his career in venture as a general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners, where he financed and built several successful companies that create innovative products by applying material science, including Arsenal Medical, Lyra Therapeutics and Foro Energy.
Prior to his career in venture, Dr. Roberts co-founded several companies where he served in an executive and/or chairman capacity for each of his companies. Before starting his career as an entrepreneur, he worked in business development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Genzyme) and at Sentry Products, a life science venture wholly owned by Union Carbide Corporation (acquired by Dow Chemical).
Dedicated to advancing medical products for developing nations, Dr. Roberts joined with prolific inventor George Whitesides and Harvard University to co-found Diagnostics For All, Inc., a non-profit organization that is using a materials platform to make low cost diagnostics for poor and rural populations in developing nations. Dr. Roberts currently serves as Chairman of this organization.
Dr. Roberts received his B.S. and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Duke University and was a National Science Foundation Fellow at Harvard University's Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. He earned his M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management. In 1999, Dr. Roberts was named by MIT's Technology Review as one of the world's top 100 young entrepreneurs.
Dr. Roberts serves on the Board of Advisers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and on the boards for the Consumer Technology Association, WGBH and Massachusetts General Hospital Physician Organization. Dr. Roberts was selected by the Aspen Institute to participate in the Finance Leaders Fellowship program as a senior leader in the venture capital industry.
Dr. Roberts and his wife, Sandra Park, G’93, L’96, live in Brookline, Massachusetts with their three children.
Elected to the Board of Trustees of Duke University in 2013, Dr. Roberts is chair of the External Engagement Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee and the Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Task Force. In 2017, Dr. Roberts was appointed to the Duke University Health System Board of Directors and currently serves on the Audit and Compliance Committee.
Dr. Roberts served on the Board of Directors of the Duke Alumni Association from 2007-2013, and on its Executive Committee from 2008-2013.