My journey from the farmlands of Iowa to the boardroom of a multinational corporation leading the biotechnology revolution, has been a long strange trip.

I have slopped hogs, milked cows, picked cucumbers with migrants, been a carnival barker, a painter, a landscaper, a Naval Hospital Corpsman, Pharmacy Technician, ambulance driver, chemical salesman, and a Culligan man (the list is longer but the point has been made).

I founded a biotechnology company in my garage, bootstrapped it up to a $40 million multinational, over ten years, then took it public on the NASDAQ exchange.

After the IPO I  lead a merger and acquisition campaign that culminated in the largest most complex deal in biotechnology history, and created the largest, fastest growing, most profitable business in my industry, growing  Invitrogen from $40 to $800 million in sales in four years.

The company lives on, as Life Technologies Corporation,  LIFE on the Nasdaq, and dominates life sciences.

I have ridden bicycles across large swaths of the U.S., Alaska, Canada, and Australia.

I have flown the fastest civilian jet in the world (pictured above) to the edge of space, and taken it around the world.

I have soloed my other plane, a single engine turboprop, from the end of the world, (Fin del Mundo) in Tierra del Fuego, around all of South America, the Caribbean, to nearly every state in the U.S., and many many trips into Canada.

Alison and I have now flown that same Pilatus solo, around the world, becoming one of a few dozen people to so in a single engine plane.

I have flown volunteer missions, for the Flying Samaritans, delivering medical supplies into Mexico, and for the Democratic Party, delivering hope to the disenfranchised of America.

I have been a volunteer for the Haight Ashbury free clinic,  and Big Brothers of America.

I have loved and I have been loved. And now, in  my middle years, I have found love and marriage, with my soul mate, Alison. We were introduced in 2006, started dating in 2007, engaged in 2008, married in 2009, and delivered a happy healthy son, Taggart Scot Turner in February of 2011.

Almost every day, sometimes several times a day, I sit in  silent awe of what an incredible adventure I have been on; what an incredible gift this life has been.

Now, I have the luxury of time, health, money, and a desire to give something back while I can.

And someone to enjoy it with.

The adventure continues.