Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Mark Wong
Chief Executive Officer, Agrivida
Director
Mark has more than 30 years of experience in agribusiness, with particular expertise in technology integration and commercialization. Formerly, he was founder and CEO of Emergent Genetics, Inc. and was a partner at Big Stone Partners, a private venture investment and management advisory firm that specializes in the agricultural and biotechnology sectors. He also has previous founding and management experience in these areas, including Agracetus (CEO), a plant biotechnology company; Agrigenetics (Founder and COO), a seed and biotechnology company; and Renewable Agricultural Energy (Founder and CEO), an ethanol company. His experience includes operations management, technology assessment, business acquisition and divestiture, and international business. Mark holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Finance.
R. Michael Raab, Ph.D.
Founder and President, Agrivida
Director
Michael is a Founder of Agrivida and currently serves as President. He invented the company's intein switch technology and leads technical product development, including groups in gene development, biochemistry and enzyme development, plant transformation, and plant analysis. Dr. Raab worked previously in bioprocess research at the Merck Research Laboratories, where he was involved in process design and scale-up for vaccine production. He is author on numerous peer-reviewed research papers, served as a visiting professor on the chemical engineering faculty at the University of Virginia, and was named to Technology Review's 2006 TR35 awardees as a top innovator under the age of 35. Prior to founding Agrivida, Michael earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, both in Chemical Engineering. Dr. Raab is also a current member (2006 – present) of Harvard University's Private and Public, Scientific, Academic, and Consumer Food Policy Committee (PAPSAC).
Paul Batcheller
Director
Paul is a Partner at PrairieGold Venture Partners, where he oversees all aspects of the firm's investment activities, from sourcing, structuring, and negotiating investments to serving as a board member for portfolio companies. Paul leads PrairieGold's Greentech investment initiative and serves on the boards of Augusta Systems, tenKsolar, ZeaChem, Agrivida, iCentera, and Game Plan Technologies. In addition, Paul oversees PrairieGold's investment in General Compression, a developer of utility-scale energy storage solutions. Paul is also a board member of South Dakota Rural Enterprise, a statewide nonprofit economic development organization. Prior to joining PrairieGold, Paul served as an advisor to Senator Tom Daschle, where he worked on economic policy, science, and technology issues. He received his B.A. in economics from Macalester College.
Jim Barber, Ph.D.
Director
Jim has extensive experience in industrial biotechnology, having most recently served as President and CEO of Metabolix, Inc. Under his leadership, Metabolix developed the Mirel™ line of bioplastics and formed Telles™, a joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Dr. Barber also led Metabolix through a successful IPO in November 2006. Prior to Metabolix, Dr, Barber served as Global Business Director for Albemarle Corporation, with global P&L responsibility for that $100+ million business. He also served as Director of Business Development with Ethyl Corporation, with responsibility for acquisitions and managing Ethyl's venture capital activities. Dr. Barber received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976 and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980. He received the American Chemical Society's Henry F. Whalen, Jr. award for Business Development in September of 2003.
Edward T. Shonsey
Director
Ed is an accomplished executive whose experience has included success in creating companies as well as acquiring and integrating them. He has founded companies such as GTRI, an international customs house, and numerous corporations to capture growth opportunities. Ed is presently CEO of Ethanol Energy. His Company's emphasis includes converting crops to ethanol including algae, sorghum, switch grass, and forestry products. Prior to its sale in June 2010, Ed was CEO of Diversa Corporation in San Diego, California where he increased the market value of the company by $300 million ultimately merging the Company to create the first cellulosic biomass commercial operations. He previously held executive positions with Novartis, Pioneer Hi-Bred (now DuPont), and Proctor and Gamble Company. He started his career as a design engineer for AT&T after duty as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy where he was decorated for Vietnam combat operations. Ed's educational background includes electrical engineering, a MBA in marketing and management, and post graduate work in finance and biotechnology. Ed participates on several boards including the Business Higher Education Forum in Washington D.C., RiceTec, Inc. and AG, Metamorphix Inc., the Foundation of Liechtenstein, and The Fleet Science Center.
Greg Williams
Director
Greg is currently a managing directory at Duff, Ackerman, and Goodrich (DAG) Ventures. Prior to joining DAG Ventures in 2006, Greg was a Portfolio Manager at Teachers' Private Capital where he focused on mid-stage investments in the technology sector. Previously, Greg was a Vice-President at Growthworks Capital, managing a diverse portfolio of early stage venture capital investments. Prior to Growthworks, Greg was a Principal at BCE Capital where he made early stage investments in companies in the networking and communications industries. Greg holds a B.Sc. from McGill University.
David Summa
Director
David currently works at Technology Pathfinders and has served in senior executive positions at a number of biotechnology companies. Prior to Technology Pathfinders, he served as Chief Business Officer at Mascoma. He joined Mascoma after serving as President and CEO at Acumen Pharmaceuticals, a pre-clinical drug development company that is developing therapeutics and diagnostics that prevent Alzheimer's disease. Prior to Acumen, Dave was the President and CEO of Mendel Biotechnology, a genomics company that was the first to functionally characterize all the transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana. Previously, Dave worked at Monsanto where he was involved with the creation of Renessen, the joint venture between Cargill and Monsanto. Prior to joining Monsanto, Dave was a partner at McKinsey & Company, Inc. Dave received his B.S. and M.S. from MIT in the department of Chemical Engineering.
Mark Wong
Chief Executive Officer, Agrivida
Director
Mark has more than 30 years of experience in agribusiness, with particular expertise in technology integration and commercialization. Formerly, he was founder and CEO of Emergent Genetics, Inc. and was a partner at Big Stone Partners, a private venture investment and management advisory firm that specializes in the agricultural and biotechnology sectors. He also has previous founding and management experience in these areas, including Agracetus (CEO), a plant biotechnology company; Agrigenetics (Founder and COO), a seed and biotechnology company; and Renewable Agricultural Energy (Founder and CEO), an ethanol company. His experience includes operations management, technology assessment, business acquisition and divestiture, and international business. Mark holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Finance.
R. Michael Raab, Ph.D.
Founder and President, Agrivida
Director
Michael is a Founder of Agrivida and currently serves as President. He invented the company's intein switch technology and leads technical product development, including groups in gene development, biochemistry and enzyme development, plant transformation, and plant analysis. Dr. Raab worked previously in bioprocess research at the Merck Research Laboratories, where he was involved in process design and scale-up for vaccine production. He is author on numerous peer-reviewed research papers, served as a visiting professor on the chemical engineering faculty at the University of Virginia, and was named to Technology Review's 2006 TR35 awardees as a top innovator under the age of 35. Prior to founding Agrivida, Michael earned a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, both in Chemical Engineering. Dr. Raab is also a current member (2006 – present) of Harvard University's Private and Public, Scientific, Academic, and Consumer Food Policy Committee (PAPSAC).
Paul Batcheller
Director
Paul is a Partner at PrairieGold Venture Partners, where he oversees all aspects of the firm's investment activities, from sourcing, structuring, and negotiating investments to serving as a board member for portfolio companies. Paul leads PrairieGold's Greentech investment initiative and serves on the boards of Augusta Systems, tenKsolar, ZeaChem, Agrivida, iCentera, and Game Plan Technologies. In addition, Paul oversees PrairieGold's investment in General Compression, a developer of utility-scale energy storage solutions. Paul is also a board member of South Dakota Rural Enterprise, a statewide nonprofit economic development organization. Prior to joining PrairieGold, Paul served as an advisor to Senator Tom Daschle, where he worked on economic policy, science, and technology issues. He received his B.A. in economics from Macalester College.
Jim Barber, Ph.D.
Director
Jim has extensive experience in industrial biotechnology, having most recently served as President and CEO of Metabolix, Inc. Under his leadership, Metabolix developed the Mirel™ line of bioplastics and formed Telles™, a joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Dr. Barber also led Metabolix through a successful IPO in November 2006. Prior to Metabolix, Dr, Barber served as Global Business Director for Albemarle Corporation, with global P&L responsibility for that $100+ million business. He also served as Director of Business Development with Ethyl Corporation, with responsibility for acquisitions and managing Ethyl's venture capital activities. Dr. Barber received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976 and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980. He received the American Chemical Society's Henry F. Whalen, Jr. award for Business Development in September of 2003.
Edward T. Shonsey
Director
Ed is an accomplished executive whose experience has included success in creating companies as well as acquiring and integrating them. He has founded companies such as GTRI, an international customs house, and numerous corporations to capture growth opportunities. Ed is presently CEO of Ethanol Energy. His Company's emphasis includes converting crops to ethanol including algae, sorghum, switch grass, and forestry products. Prior to its sale in June 2010, Ed was CEO of Diversa Corporation in San Diego, California where he increased the market value of the company by $300 million ultimately merging the Company to create the first cellulosic biomass commercial operations. He previously held executive positions with Novartis, Pioneer Hi-Bred (now DuPont), and Proctor and Gamble Company. He started his career as a design engineer for AT&T after duty as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy where he was decorated for Vietnam combat operations. Ed's educational background includes electrical engineering, a MBA in marketing and management, and post graduate work in finance and biotechnology. Ed participates on several boards including the Business Higher Education Forum in Washington D.C., RiceTec, Inc. and AG, Metamorphix Inc., the Foundation of Liechtenstein, and The Fleet Science Center.
Greg Williams
Director
Greg is currently a managing directory at Duff, Ackerman, and Goodrich (DAG) Ventures. Prior to joining DAG Ventures in 2006, Greg was a Portfolio Manager at Teachers' Private Capital where he focused on mid-stage investments in the technology sector. Previously, Greg was a Vice-President at Growthworks Capital, managing a diverse portfolio of early stage venture capital investments. Prior to Growthworks, Greg was a Principal at BCE Capital where he made early stage investments in companies in the networking and communications industries. Greg holds a B.Sc. from McGill University.
David Summa
Director
David currently works at Technology Pathfinders and has served in senior executive positions at a number of biotechnology companies. Prior to Technology Pathfinders, he served as Chief Business Officer at Mascoma. He joined Mascoma after serving as President and CEO at Acumen Pharmaceuticals, a pre-clinical drug development company that is developing therapeutics and diagnostics that prevent Alzheimer's disease. Prior to Acumen, Dave was the President and CEO of Mendel Biotechnology, a genomics company that was the first to functionally characterize all the transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana. Previously, Dave worked at Monsanto where he was involved with the creation of Renessen, the joint venture between Cargill and Monsanto. Prior to joining Monsanto, Dave was a partner at McKinsey & Company, Inc. Dave received his B.S. and M.S. from MIT in the department of Chemical Engineering.