Board of Directors
Advisory Board
Ray Goldberg, Ph.D.
George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus, Harvard Business School
Dr. Goldberg is an internationally recognized expert in agribusiness and brings an unprecedented level of expertise to Agrivida. He has authored, co-authored, or served as editor on 23 books, more than 110 publications, and more than 1,000 case studies on the global food system. Dr. Goldberg has served on the Board of Directors at more than 40 agribusiness firms and is a founder of the International Agribusiness Management Association, a member of the Science Advisory Board of the IFT/FDA Research Contract, Chairman of the Advisory Panel for the World Bank Guide to developing Agricultural Markets and Agro-Enterprises, and a Fellow of both the International Agribusiness Management Association and the American Agricultural Economic Association.
Fred Ausubel, Ph.D.
Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School; Professor of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Ausubel has authored more than 120 publications in the field of plant molecular biology and is editor of Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. He is an expert in host-pathogen interactions and the molecular basis for signal transduction in plants. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scott Pearce
President and Chief Executive Officer, BioFuel Solutions
As President and CEO of BioFuel Solutions, a growing ethanol operating company founded in 2004, he secured $2 million in initial funding, which led to the signing of an agreement with Cargill to develop and build two large state-of-the art ethanol production facilities in Nebraska and Minnesota. Prior to BioFuel, Mr. Pearce was a key member of Poseidon Resources Corporation, a desalination and water treatment company, from 1997 to 2002. From 2001 to 2002, he served as Poseidon's President and CEO, leading the Company's restructuring, where he had profit and loss responsibility for developing and managing six environmental treatment and desalination plants representing more than $500 million of capital. Following Poseidon, he joined Bank of America as a Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning. Mr. Pearce started his career in the U.S. Army where, as an Attack Helicopter Pilot and Troop leader, he was decorated for valor and leadership in direct combat in Desert Storm. He left the military attaining the rank of Captain. Thereafter, Mr. Pearce worked as an engineer for Nalco Chemical Company, before receiving his MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management in 1997. He graduated with honors from Auburn University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1988.
Kenneth Keegstra, Ph.D.
University Distinguished Professor, at Michigan State University; Director of the Department of Energy's Plant Research Laboratory at MSU
Dr. Keegstra is a world expert on cell wall biology, having authored or co-authored over 130 peer reviewed publications on the biochemistry and molecular aspects of plant physiology and development. Prior to joining Michigan State, Dr. Keegstra was Chair of the Botany Department at the University of Wisconsin. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado and performed post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Michael Ladisch, Ph.D.
Director, Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue
Dr. Ladisch is an internationally known leader in the field of renewable fuels and cellulosic biofuels. He has been active in biofuels research since 1976, including the scale-up and process economics of cellulose ethanol production. He is currently taking a leave of absence from Purdue to serve as Chief Technology Officer of Mascoma Corporation. Dr. Ladish earned his B.S. from Drexel University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University, all in Chemical Engineering. He has a broad background in bioscience and bioengineering, and has authored numerous journal papers, as well as a textbook on bioprocessing. He previously chaired the National Research Council Committee on Bioprocess Engineering as well as the Committee on Opportunities in Biotechnology for Future Army Applications. Dr. Ladisch was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999.
Jefferson Tester, Ph.D.
H.P. Meissner Professor of Chemical Engineering and former Director, Laboratory for Energy and Environment, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Tester has authored or co-authored eight books and more than 120 papers on topics ranging from renewable fuels, to the assessment of local, regional, and global environmental effects caused by energy supply and use. Dr. Tester recently served as chairman of the National Advisory Council of the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He serves as a member of the National Research Council committee that is performing a broad review of the programs in DOE's Office of Power Technologies (OPT), as well as the Plenary Research Committee of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the national research institution of Switzerland. He also served on a federal panel advising President Clinton on Energy Technology R&D.
Ray Goldberg, Ph.D.
George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus, Harvard Business School
Dr. Goldberg is an internationally recognized expert in agribusiness and brings an unprecedented level of expertise to Agrivida. He has authored, co-authored, or served as editor on 23 books, more than 110 publications, and more than 1,000 case studies on the global food system. Dr. Goldberg has served on the Board of Directors at more than 40 agribusiness firms and is a founder of the International Agribusiness Management Association, a member of the Science Advisory Board of the IFT/FDA Research Contract, Chairman of the Advisory Panel for the World Bank Guide to developing Agricultural Markets and Agro-Enterprises, and a Fellow of both the International Agribusiness Management Association and the American Agricultural Economic Association.
Fred Ausubel, Ph.D.
Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School; Professor of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Ausubel has authored more than 120 publications in the field of plant molecular biology and is editor of Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. He is an expert in host-pathogen interactions and the molecular basis for signal transduction in plants. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scott Pearce
President and Chief Executive Officer, BioFuel Solutions
As President and CEO of BioFuel Solutions, a growing ethanol operating company founded in 2004, he secured $2 million in initial funding, which led to the signing of an agreement with Cargill to develop and build two large state-of-the art ethanol production facilities in Nebraska and Minnesota. Prior to BioFuel, Mr. Pearce was a key member of Poseidon Resources Corporation, a desalination and water treatment company, from 1997 to 2002. From 2001 to 2002, he served as Poseidon's President and CEO, leading the Company's restructuring, where he had profit and loss responsibility for developing and managing six environmental treatment and desalination plants representing more than $500 million of capital. Following Poseidon, he joined Bank of America as a Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning. Mr. Pearce started his career in the U.S. Army where, as an Attack Helicopter Pilot and Troop leader, he was decorated for valor and leadership in direct combat in Desert Storm. He left the military attaining the rank of Captain. Thereafter, Mr. Pearce worked as an engineer for Nalco Chemical Company, before receiving his MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management in 1997. He graduated with honors from Auburn University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1988.
Kenneth Keegstra, Ph.D.
University Distinguished Professor, at Michigan State University; Director of the Department of Energy's Plant Research Laboratory at MSU
Dr. Keegstra is a world expert on cell wall biology, having authored or co-authored over 130 peer reviewed publications on the biochemistry and molecular aspects of plant physiology and development. Prior to joining Michigan State, Dr. Keegstra was Chair of the Botany Department at the University of Wisconsin. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado and performed post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Michael Ladisch, Ph.D.
Director, Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue
Dr. Ladisch is an internationally known leader in the field of renewable fuels and cellulosic biofuels. He has been active in biofuels research since 1976, including the scale-up and process economics of cellulose ethanol production. He is currently taking a leave of absence from Purdue to serve as Chief Technology Officer of Mascoma Corporation. Dr. Ladish earned his B.S. from Drexel University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University, all in Chemical Engineering. He has a broad background in bioscience and bioengineering, and has authored numerous journal papers, as well as a textbook on bioprocessing. He previously chaired the National Research Council Committee on Bioprocess Engineering as well as the Committee on Opportunities in Biotechnology for Future Army Applications. Dr. Ladisch was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999.
Jefferson Tester, Ph.D.
H.P. Meissner Professor of Chemical Engineering and former Director, Laboratory for Energy and Environment, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Tester has authored or co-authored eight books and more than 120 papers on topics ranging from renewable fuels, to the assessment of local, regional, and global environmental effects caused by energy supply and use. Dr. Tester recently served as chairman of the National Advisory Council of the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He serves as a member of the National Research Council committee that is performing a broad review of the programs in DOE's Office of Power Technologies (OPT), as well as the Plenary Research Committee of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the national research institution of Switzerland. He also served on a federal panel advising President Clinton on Energy Technology R&D.