28th Annual Meeting - Wednesday, April 18

Speakers
Roger G. Harrison, PhD has 34 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He has worked as a senior consultant with Plexus Ventures, LLC since January 2005. Prior to that he was CEO and President of Antares Pharma Inc. Most of his career, from 1972 to 2001, was spent with Eli Lilly and Company where he had leadership roles in research, product development, project management, regulatory affairs, and alliance management. Additionally he serves on the board of three companies, operating as chairperson for two of these. He has a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Leeds and postdoctoral experience at the University of Zurich.

Mark Matlock is Sr. VP for the ADM Research Division. He joined ADM as an analytical chemist and has held positions as manager of process development, laboratory manager of ADM BioProducts, director of food application, and vice president of business development. He received a BS in Chemistry from Millikin University and MS in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Akron. He is author or co-author of seven U.S. patents, two of which relate to an analytical instrument (OSI) that measures the oxidative stability of vegetable oils. He managed research that led to the introduction of trans free fats for margarines and shortenings via a novel enzymatic rearrangement technology.

Michael A. Pacheco, PhD is Director of the National Bioenergy Center (NBC) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He is responsible for coordinating bioenergy research activities carried out at five DOE Laboratories: NREL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National Energy & Environmental Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. Prior to this he worked for Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Energy BioSystems Corp., Amoco Oil Corp. and Conoco Oil Co. He earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and BS in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University.

Brent Shanks, PhD is an Associate Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Iowa State University where he has been since 1999. He received his BS degree from Iowa State University and MS and PhD degrees from the California Institute of Technology. From 1988 to 1999 he worked as a Research Engineer and Department Manager in the Catalyst Department at the Shell Chemical Company technology center in Houston, Texas. His research interests are in the synthesis and characterization of heterogeneous catalysts with particular emphasis on catalytic conversion of biological-based feedstocks.

Gifford Pinchot III is President and cofounder of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, which offers an MBA that integrates sustainability and social responsibility with innovation and profit. He has published three books and has helped to launch over 700 businesses. Since 1983 he has led Pinchot & Company, a firm that helps companies launch new businesses and to design and implement more sustainable business practices. He has facilitated numerous sustainability projects and licensed two of his inventions. He earned his AB degree in Economics from Harvard University and PhD in Neurophysiology from Johns Hopkins University.

Nance Dicciani, PhD, MBA is President and CEO of Specialty Materials, a strategic business group of Honeywell. Prior to this, she worked for Rohm and Haas and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. She holds BS, MS and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2006, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. She also currently serves on the Executive Committee of the American Chemistry Council and as a vice president of the Society of Chemical Industry. She has been ranked twice as one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” by Forbes.

Tyler B. Thompson, PhD is Research Partnership Leader, External Technology, Core R&D, at The Dow Chemical Company. He first joined Dow in the Chemical Processes Laboratory of Central Research, and later joined the Engineering Research Laboratory and Computing and Information Technology Laboratory when they were formed. He holds two BS degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one in Chemistry and the other in Humanities & Science, and a PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of ACS, AIChE, and the National Council of University Research Administrators.

Lois S. Peters, PhD is Associate Professor at the Rensselaer Lally School of Management and Technology. She is currently a principal investigator in the Nanotechnology Center and the NSF-sponsored Nanoscale Engineering Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She earned her PhD in Biology from New York University. She continues to be an active member of the Radical Innovation Program which began in 1995 and is now in its second phase. Two additional ongoing projects include a long-term study of the globalization of R&D and a study of cyber aggression. She is co-author of Radical Innovation: How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts (Harvard Business Press).

Len Peters, PhD served as Director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory from 2003-2006. He recently assumed a corporate position with Battelle, which operates PNNL for the U.S. Department of Energy. In his new role, he will focus on education and science and technology management issues for Battelle. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his BS, MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering. Before joining PNNL, he served in research leadership roles at the University of Kentucky and Virginia Tech. He guided PNNL to many successes, including an improved safety and security culture, and enhanced relationships with regional research universities.

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