Advisory Board

Thomas A. Waltermire

Is the CEO of Team NEO ant the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PolyOne Corporation.

Waltermire, currently serves as a board member of the Greater Cleveland Partnership; vice chairman of NorTech, the regional technology initiative; and a member of the executive committee of JumpStart, Inc., a Northeast Ohio entrepreneurship and investment accelerator. In addition, he serves on the advisory board of the statewide Third Frontier Initiative and is a member of the Business Alliance for Higher Education and the Economy. He also has been a board member of the Regional Business Council, the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, Cleveland Tomorrow and the Ohio Business Roundtable.

Mike Pullins

Mr. Pullins is the Executive Director of the Ohio Farm Bureau Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the 223,000 member Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.

He was the Executive Director of the Ohio Fruit Growers Society and the Ohio Vegetable and Potato Growers Association. Pullins has organized and led agricultural tours to Australia, New Zealand, China and Brazil. Pullins has also been instrumental in the founding of several new agricultural organizations including the Ohio Livestock Coalition, the American Berry Cooperative, the Ohio Vegetable and Small Fruit Research and Development Program, Mid American Ag and Hort Services, Inc. and the Heartland Agdeavor Association.

Pullins currently serves on the steering committee of the Ohio Rural Development Partnership, vice president of the American Berry Cooperative, president of the Heartland Agdeavor Association and is a lay leader for the North Lewisburg United Methodist Church.

Wayne A. Earley

Mr. Early is the executive director of Polymer Ohio whose mission is to increase the growth and competitiveness of Ohio’s polymer industry.

He is a member of the Board of Advisors of CMPND whose mission is to commercialize nano and photonic polymer technology. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of Ohio Bio Products Center whose mission is to develop high value polymer additives based on renewable inputs such as soybeans, corn and other renewable sources. Both of these are Ohio Wright Centers of Innovation. He is a member of the Industry Advisory Board of the Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymer Biomedical Devices an NSEC. He is a member of the Board of Managers of PolymerOhio Purchasing and Shared Services, LLC, and a member of the Board of Directors of PolymerOhio Investments, Inc.

Steven A. Slack

Dr. Slack has been at the Ohio State University since 1999 as Associate Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Director of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Dr. Slack received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville and his Ph.D. degree from the University of California - Davis. In 1975, he joined the faculty of the Plant Pathology Department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and in 1988 he joined the Cornell University faculty as the Henry and Mildred Uihlein Professor of Plant Pathology and was department chair from 1995 - 1999. His major area of research interest has been seed potato pathology, especially the epidemiology of viral and bacterial diseases and tissue culture propagation techniques. He is a fellow and past President of the American Phytopathological Society, an honorary life member and past President of the Potato Association of America, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Honors include a USDA Group Honor Award for Excellence in 1995 for work on a nonpesticidal control strategy for the potato golden nematode, the Outstanding Alumnus award from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas in 1996, and the meritorious service award for research by the National Potato Council in 1997. Member of the Search and Nominate Committee for Science Council, CGIAR.

Ken Hunt

Ken is a managing partner with the HansonMasien Group in Kirtland, Washington. This firm offers services in a variety of areas including branding and market positioning and support for government funding. Current clients include: Acadia BioSciences, Soil Soup, Mendel Biotechnology, Inc.

Previously Ken was the CEO of Anawah, Inc. Anawah is an R&D company targeting quality improvements in whole foods through the discovery and commercialization of valuable traits in plants and animals.

Ken has also held positions with Paradigm Genetics in Research Triangle, N.C. as the vice president of Agriculture and Corporate Marketing and with The Monsanto Company of St. Louis, Mo. as the Director of Marketing and Brand development for the Nutrition Sector.

Stephen Myers
Dr. Myers, Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC)

Stephen Myers is Assistant Director of Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. He previously served as Chair of the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. He was recently named Director of the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center, a newly-funded research effort which integrates academia and industry towards the development of renewable specialty chemicals, polymers/plastics and advanced materials. Operating on a market-pull business model, this unique research venture is designed to link genetics, biotechnology, chemical conversion and product development towards the commercialization of bioproducts which represent a value proposition to industry partners. The venture builds on the strength of two of Ohio's largest industries, agriculture and the chemicals, plastics and rubber materials sector, as well as the significant involvement of Battelle, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and USDA. The Center leverages significant core research capabilities at The Ohio State University including the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the Molecular and Cellular Imaging Center, the Plant Biotechnology Center, the Center for Advanced Polymers and Composite Engineering, and the Center for Advanced Processing and Packaging Studies. With major leadership from the Battelle Memorial Institute, Center alliance members include Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, Cooper Tire, Delphi Packard Electric, Delta Plant Technologies, National Renewable Energy Lab, Oak Ridge National Lab, Ohio Corn Growers Association, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ohio Soybean Council, Ohio Polymer Strategy Council, Owens Corning, Pacific Northwest National Lab, PolyOne Corporation, Proctor and Gamble, Scotts, Sherwin-Williams and USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

F. William Ravlin

Dr. Ravlin is Associate Director of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University. His primary responsibilities are competitive programs, commercialization of OSU discoveries, and industry relations. Dr. Ravlin has a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, was a professor of entomology at Virginia Tech for seventeen years and is also professor of Entomology at The Ohio State University.