BIO-TECHNE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Molecular Diagnostics Division
- Vice President and General Manager of the Molecular Diagnostics Division
Bernie Andruss became Vice President and General Manager of the Molecular Diagnostics Division on September 1, 2023. Previously, Dr. Andruss was the Chief Operating Officer of the Molecular Diagnostics Division and Head of the Companion Diagnostics (CDx) Business Unit. Dr. Andruss joined Bio-Techne following its acquisition of Asuragen in 2021, where he was Senior Vice President of Operations and Regulatory Affairs. During his nearly 20 years with Ambion and Asuragen, Dr. Andruss worked in a variety of expanding leadership roles in R&D and product development, business development, regulatory affairs and quality, and operations while providing leadership for pharma partnerships focused on companion diagnostics.
Dr Andruss holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Rice University and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Corporate Development
Bob Gavin was appointed Vice President - Corporate Development in August 2021. Previously Mr. Gavin was the Senior Vice President of the Analytical Solutions Division. Mr. Gavin joined Bio-Techne with the acquisition of ProteinSimple in 2014, where he was Vice President of Product Development. Mr. Gavin has more than twenty-five years of experience in the Life Science tools industry, previously serving as Director of Engineering at Molecular Devices for nine years after starting in the field at Affymax Research Institute.
Mr. Gavin holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President - Chief Human Resources Officer
Brenda Everson joined Bio-Techne on January 10, 2022, as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Mrs. Everson has >25 years of experience leading human resources disciplines and functions, including talent acquisition, learning & development, talent management, global mobility and organizational effectiveness. Most recently she was the Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness for Midco Telecommunications. Prior to this she had a dynamic, two-decade, global career at Apple, Inc. where she led several talent practices in the retail division.
Mrs. Everson holds a Bachelor of Science in Retail Management/Business Administration and a Master of Science in Training and Human Resources Development, both from the University of Wisconsin Stout.
Job Titles:
- Bio - Techne 's President and Chief Executive Officer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Audit Committee
- Member of Nominations and Governance Committee
- Member of Science and Technology Committee
Dr. Alpna Seth formerly served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Nura Bio, a venture capital funded biotech company focused on novel therapeutics for serious neurodegenerative diseases spanning central, peripheral and ocular nervous systems. The company is headquartered in South San Francisco. Previously, Dr. Seth was Chief Operating Officer of Vir Biotechnology, Inc. Prior to joining Vir in July 2017, Dr. Seth was Senior Vice President and Global head of the Biosimilars business for Biogen, Inc. headquartered in Zug, Switzerland since 2014. For the period from 1998 through 2014, Dr. Seth held a range of executive roles at Biogen in business development, drug development and marketing programs. She holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Seth brings a breadth of experience in drug discovery, marketing, international operations and business development. Among other attributes, skills and qualifications, the Board believes Dr. Seth's extensive background in the pharmaceutical industry and her deep knowledge of critical areas of science provide a valuable strategic perspective for our business generally and for a key customer group for the Company.
Dr. Peter Schuessler joined Bio-Techne on May 1, 2023, as Vice President of EMEA based in Düsseldorf, Germany and Abingdon, United Kingdom. Prior to joining Bio-Techne, Dr. Schuessler worked in several positions of increasing responsibility for Thermo Fisher Scientific in EMEA, including as Vice President and General Manager of Chromatography & Mass Spectrometry, Commercial EMEA from 2019-2023, as well as Country Leader Germany from 2020-2023, and Global Leader for CMD Indirect Channels and IOMS from 2022-2023. Prior to Thermo Fisher Scientific, Dr. Schuessler held roles of increasing scale at Life Technologies, Invitrogen, Operon Biotechnologies and QIAGEN.
Dr. Schuessler holds a Ph.D. from the Institute for Genetics, University of Düsseldorf, a Master of Science from the Institute for Genetics, University of Düsseldorf, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Audit Committee
- Member of Science and Technology Committee
Rupert Vessey, MA, BM BCh, FRCP, DPhil is currently Executive Partner and Chief Scientist at Flagship Pioneering. Previously, Dr. Vessey was the President of Global Research and Early Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb, a position he also held at Celgene prior to its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Before joining Celgene, Dr. Vessey held various research and development senior management positions at Merck. Prior to his ten years at Merck, Dr. Vessey worked in drug discovery, experimental medicine, and early clinical development at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Vessey holds an MA in physiological sciences and a BM BCh in clinical medicine from Oxford University where he completed his DPhil at the Institute for Molecular Medicine, Oxford along with additional clinical training at various hospitals in the UK. He is a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London UK.
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Reagent Solutions Division
Dylan Malayter joined Bio-Techne in August 2023 as the Vice President for the Reagent Solutions Division, overseeing the Recombinant Protein, Antibodies, and Small Molecule business units. Prior to joining Bio-Techne, he served as the General Manager of the Cell Analysis Instruments business segment at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Preceding this role, he held the position of General Manager for the Antibodies and Flow Cytometry Consumables business segment, also at Thermo Fisher. Dylan's professional journey also includes significant experience in product management and marketing roles of increasing scope and complexity at Affymetrix, eBioscience, and GenWay Biotech.
Dylan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President - Spatial Biology Division
- Vice President and General Manager of the Spatial Biology Division
Evett Kruka became the Vice President and General Manager of the Spatial Biology Division on February 7, 2022. Evett brings 20+ years of experience in Life Sciences and has deep expertise in Strategic Marketing, Product Management and General Management. Most recently she was the Vice President and General Manager (VP/GM) for the Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry business for Thermo Fisher Scientific for five years and prior to that she was the VP/GM for Thermo-Fisher's Ion Chromatography (IC) Business after leading the IC Marketing Organization. Previously, Evett held various life sciences analytical instrument management and marketing leadership roles at Perkin-Elmer and built a life sciences focused market research consulting business.
Evett holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Chief Technology Officer
Gary Latham joined Bio-Techne with its acquisition of Asuragen in April 2021. He became Bio-Techne's Chief Technology Officer on August 6, 2023. Previously, Gary was Asuragen's Chief Scientific Officer, having joined the company when it was founded in March 2006. While there, he directed technology and product development, including Asuragen's breakthrough AmplideX® PCR chemistry and genetic kits and several next-generation sequencing-based innovations for oncology. From 2000 to 2006, he developed commercially successful enzyme tools and research kits as an R&D section head at Ambion. In his career, Gary has led the development of over 30 life science and molecular diagnostic products and is an inventor on 16 US patents. He has also authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and has been awarded $13M in research grants from the NIH and other funding agencies.
Gary received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Vanderbilt University and was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oregon's Institute for Molecular Biology.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Executive Vice President - Chief Financial Officer
James T. Hippel became Chief Financial Officer on April 1, 2014. Prior to joining the Company, he served as Senior Vice President and CFO for Mirion Technologies, Inc., a $300 million global technology and manufacturing company which provides mission critical products to detect, monitor and identify radiation. Prior to Mirion, Mr. Hippel served as Vice President, Finance at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., leading finance operations for its $2 billion Mass Spectrometry & Chromatography and $1 billion Laboratory Consumables divisions. Mr. Hippel's experience also includes nine years of progressive financial leadership at Honeywell International, within its Aerospace Segment. He began his career with KPMG Peat Marwick LLP.
Mr. Hippel holds a Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from Northern Arizona University. He is also a CPA (inactive).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Audit Committee
- Member of Nominations and Governance Committee
John L. Higgins has served on the Company's Board since 2009. Mr. Higgins has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since January 2007 and has been a member of Ligand's Board of Directors since March 2007. From 1997 until joining Ligand, Mr. Higgins was with Connetics Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical company, as its Chief Financial Officer, and also served as Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration and Corporate Development at Connetics from January 2002 until its acquisition by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. in December 2006. Mr. Higgins was previously a member of the executive management team and a director at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Mr. Higgins also serves as Chairman of CoMentis, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, and has served as a director of numerous public and private companies.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Audit Committee
- Director and Advisor for Interpace Biosciences
Dr. Joseph Keegan currently serves as a director and advisor for Interpace Biosciences (Nasdaq: IDXG) as well as a number of privately held life science companies, including executive director at Carterra, Inc., and director at Nanomedical Diagnostics. From 2007 until its sale to Pall Corporation in 2012, Dr. Keegan served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ForteBio, Inc. Dr. Keegan joined ForteBio from Molecular Devices Corporation, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 1998 to 2007. Prior to Molecular Devices, Dr. Keegan held leadership positions at Becton Dickinson, Leica, Inc. and GE Medical Systems. He has also served on numerous public and private company boards of life science tools companies. Dr. Keegan holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Stanford University. Among other attributes, skills and qualifications, the Board believes Dr. Keegan is qualified to serve as a Director of the Company because of his deep knowledge of our industry and customers, as well as his extensive executive management experience and prior service on other private and public company boards.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Audit Committee
- Director of Adient Plc
Bushman is the former Executive Vice President of International Operations for 3M. She previously served in various executive positions at 3M, including as Senior Vice President of Business Transformation and Information Technology; Executive Vice President of Safety, Security and Protection Services; Executive Vice President of Safety and Graphics; Division Vice President of the Occupational Health and Environmental Safety Division; and Chief Information Officer. Bushman joined 3M in 1983.
Bushman currently serves as a director of Adient plc, an automotive seating company and Phillips 66, an energy manufacturing and logistics company. She previously served as a director of Johnson Controls from 2012 through 2016.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President - Chief Digital Officer
Kevin Smyth joined Bio-Techne on January 8, 2018 as the Chief Digital Officer. Prior to that, Mr. Smyth was Vice President of Commercial Digital Solutions at Ecolab, a global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Smyth was the Chief Information Officer at Cerner Corporation, a health care information technology solutions supplier.
Mr. Smyth has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Fullerton.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- President
- President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio - Techne Corporation
- President, Chief Executive Officer, and Member of the Board
Kim Kelderman became President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Techne Corporation on February 1, 2024. Kim joined Bio-Techne on April 30, 2018, as President, Diagnostics and Genomics and served as Chief Operating Officer of the Company from November 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024. Prior to Bio-Techne, Mr. Kelderman was employed at Thermo Fisher Scientific where he led three different businesses of increasing scale and complexity. For the last three years, Mr. Kelderman managed the Platforms and Content of the Genetic Sciences Division, where he was responsible for the Instrumentation, Software, Consumables and Assays businesses, and brands such as Applied Biosystems and legacy Affymetrix. Before joining Thermo Fisher, Kim served as Senior Segment Leader at Becton Dickinson, managing the global Blood Tubes "Vacutainer" business.
Mr. Kelderman holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Hogeschool Heerlen of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.
Job Titles:
- President
- President, Diagnostics and Genomics Segment
Matthew F. McManus became President, Diagnostics and Genomics on January 8, 2024. Prior to joining the company, Dr. McManus served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Azenta, where he was responsible for Life Sciences Products, Services and all commercial operations. Previously, Dr. McManus was President and CEO of Asuragen, which Bio-Techne acquired in 2021, and served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Bio-Techne's Molecular Diagnostics Division.
Dr. McManus received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, his MBA from Boston College, and his B.A. in Economics from College of the Holy Cross.
Peggy Sue™ lets you separate and analyze proteins by size or charge from 2-440 kDa either by immunoassay or total protein. Got small sample volumes or starting materials? No problem. She uses as little as 0.2 µg/µL of protein in just 5 µL of sample, and runs up to 96 samples in one experiment. Charge ahead and do more with Peggy Sue!
Peter Breloer joined Bio-Techne on August 1, 2015 as Vice President of Asia-Pacific based in Hong Kong. Prior to Bio-Techne, Mr. Breloer was employed at Thermo Fisher Scientific APAC where he led the Laboratory Consumables business 2010-2011, resp. Chromatography & Mass Spectrometry business 2012 - July 2015. Before joining Thermo Fisher Scientific, Peter served 20 years in 3M Company with increasing scale and complexity incl. General Manager Energy & Advanced Materials APAC resp. EMEA roles & European business head Electronics Markets Materials. Prior 3M he was with TUEV-Rheinland's Equipment Safety Division Japan & Taiwan 1987-1988.
Mr. Breloer holds a Dipl.-Ing. Applied Physics degree from Germany, with specialty on solid state physics (1986).
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Quality and Regulatory
- Vice President of Quality
Qi Cheng became Vice President of Quality & Regulatory on July 27th, 2021. Mrs. Cheng held various management positions at Bio-Techne from Technical Service, Quality Control, Senior Director of Product Support/Process Improvement and Senior Director of Quality. Mrs. Cheng has in-depth knowledge of many Bio-Techne products and understand customers' quality & regulatory needs. She is a Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence from American Society for Quality since 2013.
Mrs. Cheng attended Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and North Dakota State University when she received Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology. She served as NIH postdoctoral Fellow at Pediatric Infectious Disease Division from University of Minnesota School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Member of the Compensation Committee
- Audit Committee
- Member of Science and Technology Committee
Randolph C. Steer, M.D., Ph.D., has served on the Company's Board since 1990. Dr. Steer is currently an independent biotechnology consultant. He served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Capstone Therapeutics Corp. from April 2006 to October 2011. Dr. Steer was elected to the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees in November 2011. In the past five years, Dr. Steer also served as a director of Vital Therapies, Inc. From 1989 to 2006 Dr. Steer was a consultant to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, where he advised companies in business development, medical marketing and regulatory and clinical affairs. His prior experience includes service as Associate Director of Medical Affairs at Marion Laboratories and as Medical Director at Ciba Consumer Pharmaceuticals.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of Nominations and Governance Committee
Mr. Baumgartner has served on the Company's Board since 2003 and as Chairman since 2012. Until July of 2019, Mr. Baumgartner served as Executive Chairman, Director of the Center for Diagnostic Imaging, Inc., an operator of diagnostic imaging centers. Until August, 2015, Mr. Baumgartner also served as Chief Executive Officer of that company. Prior to 2001, he held numerous executive positions, including as Chief Executive Officer and Director of American Coating International, President and Chief Executive Officer of First Solar and President of the Apogee Glass Group. He began his professional career at KPMG LLC, an international accounting firm. Mr. Baumgartner currently serves on the board of Carestream Health, Inc.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Chairman of the Department of Developmental Biology
- Member of Science and Technology Committee
Roeland Nusse, Ph.D., has served on the Company's Board since May 2010. Dr. Nusse has served as Chairman of the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford University since 2007. Dr. Nusse has been a professor or associate professor in the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford University and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1990. He has also been the chair of the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford since 2007. Dr. Nusse was previously at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) as a staff scientist and ultimately head of the Department of Molecular Biology. Dr. Nusse was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in April 2010. Dr. Nusse was previously named a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization in 1988, a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences in 1997 and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.
Sally Sue™ lets you separate and analyze proteins by size from 2-440 kDa either by immunoassay or total protein. Got small sample volumes or starting materials? No problem. She uses as little as 0.2 µg/µL of protein in just 5 µL of sample, and runs up to 96 samples in one experiment. If you wish you could do more, Sally Sue gets you there!
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President - General Counsel
Mr. Bohnen has over 20 years of experience as a senior legal advisor, including serving as Bio-Techne's Associate General Counsel since 2019. During his tenure at Bio-Techne, Mr. Bohnen led several initiatives, including commercial support across the entire Bio-Techne enterprise, co-leading recent M&A activities, contributing to the Company's ESG initiatives, including the preparation of the most recent Corporate Sustainability Report, and protecting the enterprise's competitive interests through offensive and defensive litigation. Prior to joining Bio-Techne, Mr. Bohnen spent 10 years in private practice where he developed broad experience in life sciences litigation, practicing in more than sixty U.S. jurisdictions on behalf of life sciences manufacturers and providers, and eventually being elected to the partnership at Bowman & Brooke LLP. Mr. Bohnen also served as in-house corporate counsel at Smiths Medical where he held roles of increasing responsibility including providing conglomerate-wide, global legal support across five distinct enterprises. Additionally, he served briefly as in-house counsel at Resideo where he supported three successful acquisitions, a number of process and culture improvement initiatives and several strategic reorganizations.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President - Analytical Solutions Division
Steve Crouse joined Bio-Techne in March 2021 as the Vice President, Analytical Solutions Development, responsible for Bio-Techne's ProteinSimple branded products and R&D Systems Immunoassays portfolio. Steve has >20 years of experience leading R&D, Business Development, Marketing and Sales organizations. Most recently he was the Sr. Director and General Manager for the Protein Detection and Quantification business unit at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Prior to that he held positions as the Chief Operating Officer at Vortex Biosciences and the Sr. Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Freeslate Inc., which was sold to Unchained Labs in 2016. Previously, Steve held several marketing, sales, and R&D leadership roles with Bio-Rad Laboratories and Life Technologies (now Thermo Fisher Scientific). He has an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and a M.S. in Biochemistry from Georgetown University.
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Diagnostic Reagents Division
- Vice President and General Manager of the Diagnostic Reagents Division
Steven M. Silverman became Vice President and General Manager of the Diagnostic Reagents Division in September 2021. Previously Mr. Silverman was Vice President and General Manager of the Exosome Diagnostics business. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Silverman served as Vice President of Global Marketing for the Life Science Group of Thermo Fisher Scientific. Steve's experience also includes twenty-seven years of progressive general management, marketing and commercial experience within Thermo Fisher Scientific and over thirty years within the Life Science industry in total.
Mr. Silverman holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont and attended the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD.
Job Titles:
- President, Protein Sciences Segment
Will Geist joined Bio-Techne on January 3, 2022 as President, Protein Sciences Segment.
Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Geist was Chief Operating Officer at Quanterix, a company with immunoassay tools for life science research and diagnostic applications. Prior to Quanterix, Mr. Geist led two of Thermo Fisher Scientific's largest business units, qPCR and Protein & Cell Analysis, each with revenues of $1 billion. Prior to Thermo Fisher Scientific, Mr. Geist led the commercialization of Quanta BioSciences, a genomics tools company, from start-up through acquisition by QIAGEN where he took on leadership for additional life science brands.
Mr. Geist holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.