Anthony J. Dennis, PhD
President & CEO
Anthony J. Dennis, Ph.D., a microbiologist, entrepreneur, technology advocate and native Ohioan, became president of Edison BioTechnology Center, the predecessor organization to BioOhio, on January 1, 2002. Dennis is the third president in the organization's history. He succeeded Frank Samuel Jr., who left the post to become science and technology advisor to Ohio Governor Bob Taft in June 2000.
Dennis brought to BioOhio a strong familiarity with the state's bioscience community. After receiving B.S. (1970) and Ph.D. (1973) degrees in microbiology from The Ohio State University, he began to work for Battelle in Columbus, first as an entry-level researcher and eventually as vice president for biotechnology. He then served a two-year stint as president of IntraCel, a biotech company operating in Geneva, Switzerland. He returned to the U.S. in 1990 to serve as vice president for research and development at Tastemaker (now Givaudan, a division of Roche), from 1990 until 1997.
Dennis then co-founded Nutri-Logics, Inc., where he acted as president through two rounds of start-up funding. He concluded his day-to-day responsibilities at Nutri-Logics in 2000. Simultaneous to the founding of Nutri-Logics, Dennis was co-founding another startup, BIO-NOVA, in Portland, Oregon, where he served as executive vice president until joining BioOhio, which at the time was named Omeris.
In addition to his hands-on involvement with startup bioscience companies, Dr. Dennis is an expert in the general area of innovation and creativity in research, particularly as it applies to the development and commercialization of new products. He is currently completing a book that examines the key barriers to breakthrough innovation in the United States that will include recommendations on how to surpass these barriers.
He is also highly familiar with the workings of a bioscience industry association. In Oregon, he served as a director of the Oregon Biotechnology Association (OBA), and he was a consultant for the Oregon Resource and Technology Development Account, the Oregon state technology development fund.
John F. Lewis, Jr.
Vice President & COO
John F. Lewis, Jr., is a 4th generation Ohioan, his family tracing Ohio roots to the mid 1800s. He is a licensed attorney with experience in international business, venture capital investments and economic development.
He is currently the Vice President of BioOhio, the business development, trade association and membership organization accelerating bioscience economic growth and quality of healthcare in Ohio. John leads BioOhio’s expansion, attraction and site selection activities and is an outspoken advocate for industry led, market facing academic/industry collaborations. During the last 7 years, John has helped raise nearly $1 billion for Ohio bioscience entities. He was a founding partner of the First Fifty Fund and Ohio TechAngel Fund both based in Columbus. John has more than 18 years international experience, lived in Jamaica, Korea and China, the latter two with Perkin Elmer, while traveling to more than 42 others. A graduate of Miami (Ohio) University and Capital University Law School, John is married to Judy Huang and has one daughter.
Bill Tacon, PhD
Senior Director, Workforce and Education
Bill Tacon joined BioOhio in September 2002. He leads BioOhio’s statewide strategy to build a world-class bioscience workforce infrastructure aligned with industry needs. Central to this has been the establishment of industry-academic partnerships, which aim to develop educational curriculum and content that better prepare Ohio’s future workforce.
Bill brings a significant track record as a technical leader, innovator, visionary and research manager to BioOhio. With 29 years of experience in the development and commercialization of biotechnology-based products in the biopharmaceutical and agricultural biotechnology arenas, he helps shape BioOhio and Ohio's biosciences future. He has proven expertise in anticipating technology trends and has been extremely effective at placing those organizations where he has worked at the leading edge of technology development and commercialization.
Bill came to BioOhio from Battelle, where he had spent 12 years shaping their biotechnology focus and business, most recently as a key member of Battelle's Healthcare Products business sector. Prior to Battelle, Bill was Director of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Mycogen Corporation, San Diego, for two years. Mycogen (now part of Dow Agrosciences) was an ag-biotechnology company developing products incorporating the natural protein biotoxins produced by certain isolates of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) for the control of harmful insect and nematode pests. Bill received a B.S. degree in zoology from the University of London, in his native England. Later he earned a M.S. degree in Oceanography from the University of Southampton, England, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Sussex, England.
Matt Schutte
Director of Corporate Communications
An Ohioan all his life, Matt Schutte arrived at BioOhio in December 2002 to serve as manager of corporate communications. His areas of focus include management of BioOhio's web presence, public and media relations, brand and image management, legislative interface, the annual BioOhio meeting, and other networking opportunities.
Matt came to BioOhio from Permedion, a health care quality review organization where he spent the six years in various marketing communications capacities. Prior health care marketing communications experience includes successful stints at a mid-sized Ohio hospital and a patient satisfaction research firm in Columbus. Matt received his B.A. in journalism from Miami (Ohio) University. As part of his journalism curriculum, he established an area of concentration in marketing. Matt also earned an M.A. in marketing and communications from Franklin University (Columbus).
Scott Osborne
Director, Business Development
Scott focuses on bio-industry company attraction to the state of Ohio. He brings 30 years of experience in business development, general management, technology administration, strategic planning, and organization building.
Before joining BioOhio, Scott consulted for Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, and universities doing business planning, project management, market research, and grant writing. His preceding role was CEO of BioLOC, a biotechnology spin-out company from the Ohio State University. Prior to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Scott was Vice President of New Ventures for Battelle Healthcare Products where he managed the investment portfolio for the Healthcare Products Business, directed commercialization initiatives, and administrated the technology pipeline. He previously held various management positions at Neoprobe Corporation and Abbott Laboratories. Scott is an inventor on nine issued U.S. patents.
Martie Hexamer
Executive Assistant to the President
Martie Hexamer is the assistant to Dr. Anthony Dennis, President of BioOhio. She came to BioOhio in July 2002 from the Columbus Technology Leadership Council, having served as assistant to the president, Todd Ritterbusch. Prior experience includes numerous years with Glimcher Realty Trust in which she had several positions of increasing responsibility, including facilities supervisor in charge of directing daily operations of the corporate office and liaison for the regional malls. With extensive experience in office management and executive support, Martie brings with her a wealth of administrative knowledge. She manages the daily operations of the office and is the "go to" person when trying to reach Tony Dennis. Martie resides at Choctaw Lake in London, Ohio, with her family.
Jennifer Goldsberry
Membership & Events Coordinator
Jen manages BioOhio membership activty, including new member recruitment, and plans events. Born and raised in Ohio, Jen attended Bowling Green State University and completed her interpersonal communications degree with an internship at Walt Disney World. She spent some time in Tallahassee, Florida working as a blood drive coordinator for the local blood center and then as a stewardship program and events director at Florida State University Foundation before returning to Ohio.
Drew Cook
Data Coordinator
Drew was born in Columbus, Ohio and graduated from Wittenberg University with a degree in East Asian Studies. Drew spent four years teaching in Osaka, Japan and returned to continue teaching here in Columbus. Drew joined BioOhio just as the Ohio Bioscience Resource Directory was being redeveloped, and continues to work on expanding and updating this valuable tool. Drew also works on general information management and reporting projects, including assisting with the preparation of the annual Ohio Bioscience Growth Report.
William Poore
Vice President, Finance & Administration
Gary Smith
Regional Director, Business Development
Mary Benedict
Project Manager, Workforce & Education
Regional Affiliate Directors
Tim Haynes, Acting President, TechColumbus
thaynes@techcolumbus.org
David Wight, PhD, Director, Edison Biotechnology Institute (Athens)
wight@edison.biotech.ohiou.edu
Aram Nerpouni, Vice President, BioEnterprise (Cleveland)
www.linkedin.com/pub/aram-nerpouni/3/470/63b