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Management Team
Tjerk de Ruiter
Tjerk de Ruiter is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LS9. Mr. de Ruiter’s experience includes twelve years at Danisco A/S, including his last five years with the company as the CEO of Genencor, a leading industrial Biotechnology company. Prior, he held a number of leadership positions at Danisco including Chief Operating Officer Cultures, Specialities and Flavors and Senior Vice President Global Sales and Marketing. In 2004, he was named to the Danisco Executive Committee. Mr. de Ruiter started his career in the flavor and fragrance industry and held multiple positions in both Europe and North America at Quest International. Mr. de Ruiter holds a Masters of International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management, Thunderbird, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Nijenrode University in Breukelen, Netherlands.
Jonathan Foster
Jonathan Foster is Chief Financial Officer of LS9, responsible for management of the Company’s financial and related functions. Previously, he was CFO and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at Atempo, Inc., an enterprise back-up and archiving software company which was acquired in December 2011. Prior to Atempo, he was CFO of Keymage, Inc., and before that was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at 8x8, Inc. Mr. Foster previously served as a deputy director in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Mr. Foster received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the California Clean Energy Fund, a Commissioner of the Palo Alto Utilities Advisory Commission and on the National Advisory Council for Environmental Entrepreneurs.
Gary Juncosa
Gary Juncosa is Executive Vice President, Chemicals of LS9 with overall responsibility for the development and commercialization of LS9's chemical business. Previously, he was Vice President of Operations and member of the Board of Directors for Yingyang Aroma chemical group, a flavor and fragrance ingredients supplier headquartered in Tianjin, China where he was responsible for manufacturing, supply chain, and global commercial activities.
Mr. Juncosa also held senior management positions with International Flavors and Fragrances; Chemtura Corporation, a specialty chemical manufacturer; and Rhodia, Inc., a specialty chemical company and member of the Solvay group.
Mr. Juncosa received a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Babson University. Mr. Juncosa is also an active community supporter serving in various volunteer organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America.
Stephen del Cardayre
Stephen del Cardayre has broad responsibility for research and development, external collaborations, and day-to-day operations at LS9. Prior to joining LS9, Dr. del Cardayre spent 9 years at Codexis and Maxygen, where he was directly involved in the development, application, and commercialization of technologies for the engineering of biocatalytic processes for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. Dr. del Cardayre has published extensively on the application of evolutionary engineering of biological systems, focusing primarily on the engineering of whole cell biocatalysts.
By training, Dr. del Cardayre is a biochemist, receiving an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of California - Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Post doctoral training in Microbial Biotechnology at the University of British Columbia.
Gregory (Greg) Rood
Gregory Rood is Vice President of Operations for LS9 with direct responsibility for the Company's Florida operations in Okeechobee, Florida and future LS9 production sites, as
well as oversight on both external contract manufacturing and the operational interests in future LS9 joint ventures.
Prior to LS9, Mr. Rood was Senior Vice President of Operations at Martek Biosciences/DSM where he was responsible for the Kingstree, SC and Winchester, KY production and development sites. Formerly, Mr. Rood spent over 30 years at Danisco Genecor and its predecessor companies departing as Vice President and General Manager for the Company's bio-products division where he oversaw all manufacturing and business operations in their China and India plants.
Mr. Rood majored in Chemistry and attended Monroe Community College and Rochester Institute of Technology. He has also completed numerous relative courses including Downstream Processing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Notre Dame's Certificate Program in Advanced Business Administration. He was also a Visiting Professor at Southern Yangtze University in Wuxi, China.
Lucila de Avila
Lucila de Ávila is the Managing Director of LS9 Brazil, where she is responsible for all activities for the Company in South America. Previously, she spent 20 years with LyondellBasell Industries and its predecessor companies.
She left LyondellBasell as the Regional Director of South American operations where she was responsible for all business and commercial activities for the Chemicals Division and managed Brazilian ethanol supply for the Fuels Division in the US. She began her career with The Dow Chemical Company in Brazil which included a special assignment in the Company's New York Sales Office.
Ms. de Avila is a native of São Paulo, Brazil. She graduated in Chemical Engineering from Escola de Engenharia Mauá and received a Business Administration degree from Fundação Getulio Vargas.