Aracia Industrial SA de CV is a privately-owned company based in Guadalajara, Mexico, with interests in a variety of fields, including industrial enzymes, outfitting and rental service of specialized textiles to the health sector, and transportation and logistics. He has worked in finance, strategic planning, and plant management for oils and surfactants. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, Mr. Aranguren worked for Hewlett-Packard. He earned his MBA from Stanford University.
Dr. Arntzen is internationally recognized for his work on the development of transgenic plants to yield oral vaccines that meet the needs of developing nations where infectious diseases are a major cause of infant mortality. Professor Arntzen holds the Florence Nelson Presidential Endowed Chair at Arizona State University in Tempe and was the Founding Director of the Arizona Bio-design Institute. He has served as Chairman of the NIH Biotechnology Policy Board, Chair of the Bio-based Industrial Products Committee for NAS, and as Distinguished Advisor on the Council for Biotechnology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and served on President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology. In 1984, he joined DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware, and later became Director of Biotechnology in the Agricultural Products Department.
Cedric Mutz is an Investment Director at Emerald Technology Ventures where he acts as Corporate Finance and M&A Specialist, focusing on the investment process from due diligence to valuation to transaction structuring to exit. Before joining Emerald, Cédric Mutz was Head of M&A at Omya, a leading global producer of industrial minerals based in Switzerland. Prior to Omya, Cédric was M&A project manager at BASF, the world’s largest chemicals company, where he led international M&A transactions for different business units such as agrochemicals and advanced polymers. Cédric also worked for the oil & gas producer Wintershall (BASF Group), where he was Head of Treasury at the Argentina subsidiary and Corporate Finance Manager at the headquarters in Germany. In his various roles, Cédric has gathered over 13 years of experience in M&A and corporate finance. Cedric holds a Bachelor’s degree in management from the London School of Economics and a Master’s degree in management from the London School of Economics and Duke University and is CFA charterholder. Cedric is fluent in English, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Jim Carruthers, Jr. is the founder and Managing Partner of Sophos Capital Management, LP, a Menlo Park, CA based specialty multi-sector hedge fund. Prior to Sophos, Jim was a Partner and Portfolio Manager for New York-based investment manager Third Point LLC. Previously Mr. Carruthers was a Founding Partner of Eastbourne Capital, a hedge fund operating out of California and as a principal at Robertson-Stephens Investment Management (RSIM). In both positions, Mr. Carruthers focused on both long and short equity positions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Carruthers held management positions with Washington DC area Systems Integration companies American Management Systems and Martin Marietta Data Systems. He graduated from University of Maryland with a BS in Business Administration and holds an MBA from George Washington University, where he sits on the Business School Board of Advisors.
Mr. Kirk has 37 years of experience at DuPont, where as Group Vice President he led its $4.5 billion Agriculture Business and served as a member of the CEO's Strategy/Operating Committee. Mr. Kirk created a vision to expand agricultural participation from crop protection to include the acquisition of Pioneer Hi-Bred, biotechnology research & development, and food ingredients (Protein Technology Acquisition). In addition to being named Agrimarketer of the Year in 1998 by Agrimarketer Magazine, Mr. Kirk was recognized for his biotechnology leadership by University of Illinois, and he received an award for his service to agriculture by the Farm Managers Association.
Mike retired from E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company as Global Director, Human Resources. In this position, he had responsibility for management development, staffing, strategic people planning, HR policy formation and administration for a number of global businesses including Ag and Pharmaceuticals. In addition, he was responsible for HR negotiations in a number of international and domestic M&A and Joint Venture deals. In retirement, he served as Board Chairman for the design and construction of a new $100M Utah Natural History Museum. He serves as a member and Board Chair for the National Advisory Board for the College of Engineering at the University of Utah. He is a long time member of the Medical Ethics Committee for Intermountain Health Care.