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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 15-year 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.
Dennis also has experience as a technology advocate and strategist
in the state of Ohio, where he has served as a member of The Ohio
State University Graduate Dean's Alumni Council and the OSU Agricultural
Technology Development Council.
Senior Director, Workforce and Education
Bill Tacon joined BioOhio in September 2002 as Senior Program Director. In this capacity, his primary responsibility is to identify, develop, and initiate strategic initiatives that increase collaboration among Ohio research institutions and leverage additional research funding to the state.
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.
Vice President
John F. Lewis Jr. is a true Columbus native. He is a licensed attorney with extensive experience in business development and venture capital formation. He is currently the Vice President of BioOhio, the catalyst entity leading the effort to accelerate bioscience discovery, innovation, and commercialization of global value, driving economic growth, and improving quality of life in Ohio. During the last 3 years, Mr. Lewis has helped raise more than $40 million for local life science entities. Mr. Lewis has more than 18 years international experience, traveled to more than 40 countries, and specializes in technology based business development, emerging market start-ups, venture capital, global strategic planning and sales channel implementation.
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.
Director of Corporate Communications
Matt Schutte arrived at BioOhio in December 2002 to serve as manager of corporate communications. His areas of focus include management of the BioOhio web site, 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. Mr. Schutte 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).
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