Charles Hamilton
President
Mr. Hamilton has led the commercial development of Novomer's technology since 2006. He has been involved in the creation of several companies based on Cornell technologies and worked previously for Microsoft, POP, and other high tech firms. He graduated with honors from Cornell in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources. In 2004 he received an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management where he was a Park Leadership Fellow and winner of the Global Social Venture Competition in London.
Tony Eisenhut
Chairman of the Board
Mr. Eisenhut is a 1988 graduate of Cornell. In 1999 he co-founded KensaGroup, a technology commercialization company that bridges the gap between university-developed intellectual property and the innovation needs of Fortune 1,000 companies. Through KensaGroup, Mr. Eisenhut has co-founded seven technology-based startups, and serves on the Board of Directors for four of these portfolio companies.
For more information visit: www.kensagroup.com
Jean Fréchet, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Fréchet is the Henry Rapoport Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He has active research programs in life and materials sciences at both University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He has authored over 600 scientific papers and holds over 60 United States patents. In addition to his many other awards, Dr. Fréchet was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected Member National Academy of Engineering, elected Fellow of the American Academy of Art and Sciences, and elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has further worked closely with materials and biomedical start-up companies, several of which are now publicly traded companies. Dr. Fréchet is also a Venture Partner at NGEN Partners, a materials and cleantech focused venture fund.
For more information visit: www.physicventures.com
Jim Matheson
Director
Jim Matheson joined Flagship Ventures in 2000 and focuses on new ventures in the IT, nano-technology, specialty materials, and energy arenas. He brings to this task 20 years of technology and leadership experience across a variety of organizations and roles designing, engineering and deploying sophisticated technology platforms. Jim formerly served as a Navy fighter pilot including duties flying combat missions from aircraft carriers, and as a TOPGUN Instructor. He also gained broad experience in emerging weapons system design, testing and procurement, and was deeply involved in many of the military’s IT modernization initiatives. Jim earned a BS with Honors in Computer Science from the US Naval Academy and an MBA from The Harvard Business School. He serves on the boards of Flagship portfolio companies Avidimer Therapeutics, e-Dialog, Genstruct, Mascoma Energy Corporation, Tira Wireless and Trusted Network Technologies, and is Chairman of the Board of Ze-gen.
For more information visit: www.flagshipventures.com
Robert Pangborn, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Pangborn is the founder of Pangborn Associates, LLC, which advises pre-IPO companies in the chemical, materials, and energy industries. Past and current clients include Diversa, Materia, CSP Technologies, Metabolix and Genomatica. Dr. Pangborn has also served as a senior advisor to Cargill’s Industrial BioProducts Division, and played a key role in helping to develop and implement strategy for this key corporate growth initiative. Previously Dr. Pangborn was employed at Dow Chemical in a variety of R&D and business leadership roles, rising to the post of Vice President of Central Research and Development. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from Dartmouth, attended Harvard Business School, and was an officer in the U. S. Marine Corps.
Geoffrey Coates, Ph.D.
Co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer
A member of the Cornell faculty since 1997, Dr. Coates is an international leader in the field of polymer synthesis and the Chief Scientific Officer of Novomer. Dr. Coates received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford University in 1994 and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow with Robert H. Grubbs at the California Institute of Technology.
His main research interests are the design, synthesis, characterization, and applications of polymers, with an emphasis on catalytic transformations and the control of stereochemistry. Dr. Coates was selected by MIT's Technology Review as one of 100 young innovators under 35 "who exemplify the spirit of innovation in science, technology, business and the arts."
Scott D. Allen, Ph.D.
Co-founder, Director of Research & Development
In 2004 Dr. Allen earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry working with Dr. Coates at Cornell. His Ph.D. work focused on the design of catalysts for the controlled ring-opening polymerization of heterocycles. He co-founded Novomer in 2004 and leads the company's research and polymer commercialization efforts.
