LA JOLLA, CA – The La Jolla Institute for Immunology is pleased to announce that Michael D. Coit, president of Dallas-based MDC Investments Inc., and a developer of affordable housing in six states, has been elected to its Board of Directors.
“We’re delighted to welcome Mike to our board,” said Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., La Jolla Institute president and chief scientific officer. “Mike has been involved in launching and operating a variety of highly successful companies over his 50-year career. He is also a longtime biotech investor with key contacts in the pharmaceutical industry. That experience, along with Mike’s deep community involvement with a number of non-profit organizations, will be invaluable to La Jolla Institute.
Coit, who splits his time between Dallas, Texas, and Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., was born and raised in Norwich, Conn. He was educated at the joint Fine Arts program of Tufts University and The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Mass. After college, he returned to his hometown where he opened a small advertising business in which he designed and wrote copy for display newspaper ads for a variety of local clients. In 1968 Coit moved to Texas where he and his brother created a successful business buying remnants from textile mills and selling them to fabric stores. A few years later, Coit bought a clothing company out of bankruptcy and turned it into Decorp, Inc., a manufacturer of women’s apparel which he eventually sold to Kellwood Company, a Fortune 500 clothing manufacturer.
The sale of the company enabled Coit to invest in real estate and oil and gas development. For the past 25 years, he has specialized in developing affordable housing projects in Texas, California and a number of other states. Most of the projects are multi-family apartment complexes funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to heading MDC Investments, Coit is managing member of Coit Acquisition Group, LLC; President of Finco Development; and sole manager of Coit Energy LLC and Watch Hill Financial LLC.
Throughout his career, Coit has combined business with giving back to his community. As a continuing board member of the Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, Calif., he was chairman of the Campus Committee and head of the Audit Committee, helping to plan and oversee construction of the non-profit high school and its athletic center. He was a trustee of the Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Education Foundation and a board member of the Vogel Alcove for Homeless Children in Dallas.
Coit says he is looking forward to his involvement with La Jolla Institute.
“I’ve been a biotech investor for many years, so the thought of being involved with an organization of the scientific stature of La Jolla Institute is exhilarating,” Coit says. “My brother died of cancer at too early an age, so I’m very much looking forward to contributing to a research organization whose study of the immune system is yielding a number of innovative discoveries that are leading to more effective approaches in fighting disease and saving lives.”
About La Jolla Institute for Immunology
The La Jolla Institute for Immunology is dedicated to understanding the intricacies and power of the immune system so that we may apply that knowledge to promote human health and prevent a wide range of diseases. Since its founding in 1988 as an independent, nonprofit research organization, the Institute has made numerous advances leading toward its goal: life without disease®.
