Marty Zug moved to Russia after he graduated from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in 1992, despite having no firm job offers there, The (Gaithersburg, Md.) Gazette reports. In 1996, after a project management stint at a logistics firm in Moscow, he opted to pursue a master's degree in business administration at Dartmouth College. Later, Zug worked at accounting firm Arthur Andersen, then Snyder Communications in Bethesda, Md., and eventually for the Washington Redskins — he served as the National Football League team's vice president for two years.

The Gazette this week profiles Zug, who is now chief financial officer at the Rockville-based biotech firm Sequella. "With Sequella, knowing Russian and having done business in that country paid dividends when Zug last year negotiated an out-license agreement with a Russian venture fund to develop a treatment for tuberculosis in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries," according to the Gazette. "That agreement could be worth as much as $50 million."

Zug tells the paper that his experience in professional sports management also helped prepare him for his current role. "I learned a lot about the management of a large team and a large budget," Zug says.

Now a member of the Tech Council of Maryland's Government Relations Committee, the Gazette says Zug has been a "leader in growing the state's biotech investment tax credit program." Zug says tax credit programs such as Maryland's are critical for biotech growth. "We want to make sure this program remains a shining star and an example for other states," Zug tells the Gazette. "It's a great market-driven program that works."