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Digital Science has announced that Chief Executive Officer Daniel Hook will step down after 11 years in the role to become Chief Scientific Officer at parent company Holtzbrinck Group, with President Stephen Leicht succeeding him as CEO.
The newly created Chief Scientific Officer role will see Hook help shape long-term strategy in science, research and innovation across the wider Holtzbrinck Group, while remaining closely connected to Digital Science. Hook has spent 16 years with Digital Science, having co-founded Symplectic, one of the company’s earliest portfolio businesses.
He said: “I have believed for some time that the right length of leadership for a business like Digital Science is about a decade. The moment has come to pass the baton. I could not be more pleased to be handing it to my long-term colleague Steve, who has been a partner, counsel and friend. He knows Digital Science as well as anyone, and he shares the values that make it what it is. My exciting new role at Holtzbrinck will keep me close to the research community and to Digital Science. This is not an ending, but the very deliberate beginning of a next chapter.”
Leicht will lead Digital Science after more than a decade with the company. He first became part of the Digital Science portfolio in 2013 following its investment in ÜberResearch, the company he co-founded, which later evolved into Dimensions, now Digital Science’s flagship research intelligence platform.
After joining the executive team as Chief Operating Officer in 2016, Leicht led the company’s commercial, operational and corporate functions before being appointed President in 2023. Prior to Digital Science, he served as EVP & COO of Collexis Holdings, which was acquired by Reed Elsevier in 2010, and also held leadership positions at IBM.
Leicht said: “I take on this role with a deep sense of responsibility and real excitement for what lies ahead. Digital Science has a rare combination of trusted products, talented people and a clear sense of purpose. As research, technology and AI converge, our opportunity to serve the global research community has never been greater – and that is where my focus will be. Our values carry forward unchanged, and we’ll keep investing in the talent that drives the business. I’m grateful to Daniel for a partnership that has shaped both this company and me. I look forward to building on that foundation.”
Stefan von Holtzbrinck, CEO of Holtzbrinck Group, paid tribute to Hook’s contribution while expressing confidence in the leadership transition: “Daniel has built Digital Science into one of the most successful data-driven companies in science, and we at Holtzbrinck are enormously grateful for it. I now look forward to his new role, where his expertise, network and integrity will be instrumental to Holtzbrinck’s mission and success – within the science community and well beyond.
“I am equally glad to be working more closely with Steve. Having known his strengths for over a decade, I am delighted he has taken on the CEO role, and confident Digital Science is in the best possible hands.”
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