Lead. Transform. Grow.
Dr Bibiana Campos Seijo is an international, award winning media executive with a track record of driving growth in market share, quality, reputation, and financial performance. She has led media organizations for almost two decades and across two continents, and has experience in the nonprofit and for-profit world.
Dr Campos Seijo has worked for some of the largest scientific societies in the world in roles such as Vice President, Editor in Chief or Publisher. She has overseen large (55+), distributed, multidisciplinary teams and budgets of $20 million+. She has pioneered new technologies and driven radical transformations within her organizations, where she established a culture that nurtures change and fosters innovation and entrepreneurship.
Learn how she can help you unlock the value of your business and set you on a path for transformation and growth.
About Dr Campos Seijo
I've been working in the publishing industry for almost 20 years. In 2021 I was proud to receive the G. D. Crain Jr. Leadership Award in recognition of "outstanding contributions to the development of editorial excellence in business media."
During the last two decades I have held a variety of roles across two continents, both in the for-profit and non-profit worlds and have excelled at affecting change and transformation within media organizations.
Global ambassador
I have travelled all over the world and met some of the most brilliant minds of the 21st century, including Nobel prize winners such as Carolyn Bertozzi (who wrote about me in one of her editorials for ACS Central Science), Ben Feringa, Fraser Stoddart or Jennifer Doudna.
My travels have taken me as far and wide as Havana (Cuba), where I delivered the closing remarks during the 33rd Latin-American Congress of Chemistry; Seoul (South Korea), where I spoke about scholarly publishing during a symposium at the Institute for Basic Science, Yonsei University; or Oslo (Norway), where I attended the special ceremony and banquet held in honor of the 2018 Kavli prize laureates.
Dr Campos Seijo delivering a keynote lecture at the Institute of Basic Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Alliance builder
My role extended beyond being a global ambassador and I took every opportunity to expand my network and create alliances with sister societies and like-minded individuals and organizations. One of the fruits of these efforts was the launch in 2018 of the Brazilian Women in Chemistry awards. My goals in launching these awards were to: 1) promote gender equality in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in Brazil; 2) increase the global footprint of the organization I was working for; and 3) establish a real partnership with the Brazilian Chemical Society and other local organizations by inviting them to co-host and support the initiative.
Since then, the awards have become highly competitive, receiving hundreds of nominations every year, and are regularly highlighted in Brazilian media. Following on this success, in 2020 I launched the Spanish edition of the awards in partnership with the Federation of Latin American Chemical Societies, which were received with equal enthusiasm by the scientific community in the region.
The success of these alliances has increased trust between the organizations involved and led to collaborations in other areas. One example of this is Chemical & Engineering New’s translation program, where I negotiated an translation and distribution agreements with local societies into 4 different languages: Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. Members of the collaborating societies can opt to receive curated content in their native language directly to their mailbox or via social media.
Dr Campos Seijo with 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Fraser Stoddart; 2022-23 President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Javier Garcia Martinez; and 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Jennifer Doudna
Entrepreneur and innovator
At all the organizations I have worked for I have created a culture that fosters innovation and a growth mindset. This encourages risk taking and embracing challenges while leveraging strengths and qualities – a winning combination that has delivered outstanding results.
An example of this is C&EN’s global online readership, which thanks to my commitment to quality content and continuous investment in digital media, grew to circa 9 million per annum in 2021 – trebling website usage in less than 5 years.
Another is a series of email courses aimed at early career chemists developed with six-figure sponsorship from the Genentech Foundation. These email courses were recognized with a Gold for Best New Innovation at the 2022 AM&P EXCEL awards.
In 2017, I was quick to identify and react to an emerging trend and launch an award-winning custom content unit (C&EN BrandLab), which soon thereafter was bringing in 7-figure revenue. The studio received the EXTRA! Award at the 2019 AM&P EXCEL awards for “pushing the edge of the envelope to innovate in an ever-changing publishing environment”.
A final example of this entrepreneurial approach is C&EN’s Talented 12. This internationally recognized recognition program was launched in 2015 after identifying a gap in ACS’s awards programs, which emphasized established scientists. C&EN’s Talented 12 celebrates early career, diverse talent across academia, industry and government, and successfully attracted six-figure sponsorship by Thermo Fisher Scientific for more than 5 years. C&EN’s Talented 12 started as an editorial package but it soon grew to incorporate live and virtual events, adding events and conferences to the portfolio of products and services on offer.
In addition to this, I also launched career fairs such as Chemistry World Jobs Live, workshops and interactive events such as Table Talks, and symposia such as the C&EN Futures Festival – a 3-day multidisciplinary, forward-looking event designed to engage and expand C&EN's footprint with young and international audiences. Among keynotes and sponsored sessions, it also included a Power Hour – an informal forum for conversations on issues such unconscious bias, strategies for addressing harassment and inappropriate behavior and more, hosted in partnership with Gordon Research conferences.
Diversity, equity and inclusion champion
The Power Hour collaboration is but a small example of the initiatives advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the sciences that have been implemented under my leadership. A diversity source tracker for reporters and editors, a recruitment rubric to ensure diverse candidate pools, diversity training, memorandums of understanding with organizations such as NOBCChE (National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers), the women in Chemistry awards or the establishment of a staff-led diversity committee are examples worthy of mention.
This is in addition to extensive inclusivity coverage of which the most outstanding example is C&EN Trailblazers – a program launched in 2020 designed to celebrate diversity in the chemical sciences and that earned C&EN multiple awards, including the 2022 Jesse H. Neal Award in the Best DEI Coverage category.