Board of Directors
Robert Mayer, Chairman and CEO
Mr. Mayer brings fifteen years of experience in the industrial biotech field, having held a number of senior positions at Danisco A/S, including Chairman and CEO of Genencor International following its acquisition by Danisco. As a member of the Executive Board of Danisco and as Chief Operating Officer of the Food Ingredients Divisions, Danisco became the largest worldwide specialty food ingredients company with sales that were over $3 billion and, with the acquisition of Genencor, became the second largest global industrial enzyme company. The 2011 acquisition of Danisco by Dupont represents the largest valuation of an industrial biotech company to date. Mr. Mayer is a member of the Boards of Directors of EdenIQ and Kalsec, Inc., and until 2011 served on the Board of Martek Bioscience prior to its acquisition by DSM.
Kenneth Pelowski
Pinnacle Ventures
Ken founded Pinnacle while working at Redpoint Ventures. Prior to Redpoint, Ken founded and was Chairman of the Board of Currenex, which was acquired by State Street for $560 million. Prior to Currenex, Ken was Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and a Board member of GetThere (a Brentwood Venture Capital/USVP portfolio company), where he led its IPO as well as its $750 million acquisition by Sabre. Prior to joining GetThere, Ken was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Preview Travel (a Kleiner Perkins portfolio company), which acquired and changed its name to Travelocity. Ken led Preview’s IPO.
Before joining Preview Travel, Ken was a Corporate Vice President and Executive Committee Member at General Instruments and at Quantum Corporation where he was responsible for corporate strategy and business development. Previously, he held senior management positions in sales and marketing at Sun Microsystems and Intel. He currently is a board member on several privately held companies and nonprofit organizations. He received a BSE in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan.
John E. Hamer, Ph.D.
Burrill & Company
John E. Hamer joined Burrill & Company in November 2003 as Entrepreneur-In-Residence and co-founded Arête Therapeutics, a cardiovascular therapeutics company and became a Managing Director of Burrill in 2006.
Prior to joining Burrill & Company, Dr. Hamer helped to build Paradigm Genetics/Icoria (acquired by Clinical Data, CLDA: NASDAQ) from its beginning in 1998, serving in various capacities as Director of Microbial Research, Vice President of Research, Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President for Business Development, and Interim President and CEO. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis in 1987 and was a visiting scientist at Dupont’s Central Research and Development from 1987 to1989. He served on the faculty of Purdue University where he held the positions of Assistant Professor (‘89-’90), Associate Professor (‘92-’98), Professor(‘98-’00), and Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Indiana University/Purdue University Medical School. He currently holds an honorary position as Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences. Dr. Hamer has published more than 70 research articles and has received numerous awards of distinction throughout his career, including a David and Lucille Packard Fellowship (1990-1995) and the National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellowship (1993-1998).
He has served on numerous scientific review and biotechnology advisory boards including those at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Purdue Alumni Science Advisory Board, and North Carolina Genomic and Bioinformatics Consortium. Dr. Hamer also serves on the Boards of Directors of Chromatin (Chairman), Nanovasc Inc. (Director), Arête Therapeutics (Founder, Observer), and Diadexus (Observer).
Thomas Huot, Ph.D.
VantagePoint Venture Partners
Thomas joined VantagePoint in 2004 as a member of the Healthcare Practice Group focusing on biopharmaceutical and medical device investments. He currently serves in the CleanTech Practice Group, with primary emphasis in the areas of biofuels and biomaterials. Prior to VantagePoint, he was an Analyst with CDP Capital Technology Ventures, where he developed new fields of investment in the areas of diabetes and metabolic diseases.
Earlier in his career, Thomas served as Project Manager for Genopole®, a business incubator specializing in the development of biology on a large scale and the creation of biotechnology companies responsible for conducting technical and economic feasibility studies.
Thomas graduated from the University of London. He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University College London and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from University Paris XI, Orsay.
George F. Landegger
Parsons & Whittemore
George F. Landegger is Chairman, CEO and primary owner of Parsons & Whittemore, a privately held company headquartered in Rye Brook, New York that has built, owned and operated pulp mills, including until recently Alabama River Pulp and Alabama Pine Pulp in Monroe County, Alabama. Parsons & Whittemore, founded in 1853 and acquired by the Landegger family in 1944, has been recognized throughout its history as a leading international pulp producer and marketer, having built 60 mills in 28 countries. More recently P&W designed and built the largest biodiesel plant in the US South and has invested significantly in several biomass-to-energy projects.
Born in London, England in 1937, George Landegger became a U.S. citizen in 1947. He graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in 1958, and served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Artillery. Mr. Landegger served for 22 years as Chairman of Georgetown University’s Foreign Service School and is now Chairman Emeritus of that institution.
Also among his many societal contributions, Mr. Landegger served as Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education in the State of Alabama, and as Chairman of Reading Alabama, which provided interactive computer reading education to 70% of the students in all public school kindergartens and first grades in the State of Alabama, a contribution for which he was honored, together with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Booker T. Washington, as one of the twelve most outstanding individuals for the advancement of education and commerce in Alabama’s history. Additionally, he is the founder and primary supporter of Destin Harvest, a charitable organization established to provide perishable food to soup kitchens and other recipients which serve the needy; he is the primary support of Karuna Niwas, a home for unwed mothers in Bangalore, India, which is now celebrating its 25th year; and he financed and established a K through 12th grade school for girls in Midwest Pakistan.
Fouad Azzam, Ph.D.
Life Sciences Partners
Fouad Azzam, Ph.D., M.B.A., is responsible for LSP’s US office in Boston/Cambridge, MA and for investments in North America. Prior to joining LSP as General Partner in early 2007, Dr. Azzam was Managing Director of Eastman Ventures where he built the Life Sciences, and Advanced Materials & Devices practices. In his role as Managing Director, he was not only responsible for numerous early and late stage investments across the US & Europe, but also for the overall investment strategy and launch of several new business platforms.
Prior to his role at Eastman Ventures, Dr. Azzam held senior leadership positions at Eastman Chemical Company including roles in Innovation, Corporate Strategy, Corporate Development (M&A), and New Business Development.
His career also includes business, operating, and technology roles at Occidental Chemical and BFGoodrich.
Dr. Azzam’s academic credentials include a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron in Ohio, and an M.B.A. in finance & strategy from the University of Buffalo in New York. Dr. Azzam also currently serves or has served on the boards of directors of FlowCardia, Pasteuria Bioscience, and Seahorse Bioscience, and is an observer on the board of Attune Foods.