Andrew Powell
Mr. Powell has served as director since October 2018 and is serving as Interim Chairman of the Board. Mr. Powell is sitting member of the Compensation Committee and the Lifecore Innovation Committee. Andrew K. W. Powell is an experienced director and senior executive with 25 years of global life sciences experience and 12 years of public company boardroom experience. Mr. Powell is an accomplished lawyer and acted as General Counsel for a series of publicly traded life sciences companies throughout his career, culminating with a position as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Medivation Inc., which was acquired by Pfizer in 2016. Mr. Powell currently serves on a number of boards, including Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACRS). He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School.
Albert D. Bolles
Dr. Bolles has served as a director since May 2014. Dr. Bolles is the Chairman of the Food Innovation Committee and a sitting member of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. Dr. Bolles served as Executive Vice President, Chief Technical and Operations Officer at ConAgra Foods until his retirement in August 2015. Dr. Bolles had been with ConAgra Foods, one of North America’s largest packaged food companies, since 2006 and led the Research, Quality & Innovation and Supply Chain organizations. Dr. Bolles has led innovation programs for multiple new products, generating incremental sales and a multi-year pipeline to sustain and advance future growth. In advancing innovation at ConAgra, Dr. Bolles developed two external scientific advisory boards comprised of nationally recognized leaders to shape strategy and create industry leadership for ConAgra in Health & Wellness and Food Safety. As an industry partner with the FDA and USDA on influencing and crafting public policy that benefits consumers, Dr. Bolles was instrumental in the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2010. Prior to joining ConAgra Foods, Dr. Bolles led worldwide research and development for PepsiCo Beverage and Foods. Dr. Bolles holds six patents and has won numerous awards for his contribution to the world of food science. He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a B.S. in Microbiology plus an M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science.
Debbie Carosella
Ms. Carosella has served as a director since March 2017. Ms. Carosella is a sitting member of the Food Innovation Committee and the Compensation Committee. Ms. Carosella, a recognized innovation leader in the natural and organic food industry with over 20 years of experience, was most recently the CEO of Madhava Natural Sweeteners, focused on innovating honey and agave-based products that provide an alternative to highly processed refined sugars and artificial sweeteners. Previously, Ms. Carosella was the Senior Vice President of Innovation and a member of the Executive Operating Team at Whitewave Foods. Previous to Whitewave, she led the innovation efforts at Dean Foods, where she built the innovation function, capabilities and processes used at both Whitewave and Dean Foods. Prior to Dean Foods, Ms. Carosella was Vice President and General Manager as well as Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Innovation at ConAgra Foods. Accomplishments at ConAgra included driving double-digit revenue and profit growth and creating, developing and commercializing one of the company’s most successful product launches in its history, which delivered over $100 million in sales in its first year. Before ConAgra, Ms. Carosella was Vice President Consumer Nutrition Brand Strategy at Monsanto Company. Ms. Carosella is a graduate of the University of Missouri.
Frederick Frank
Mr. Frank has served as director since December 1999. Currently Mr. Frank is the Chairman of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and a sitting member of the Lifecore Innovation Committee. Mr. Frank is Chairman of the Board of Evolution Life Science Partners LLC. Prior to joining Evolution Partners, Mr. Frank was Chairman of the Board of Burrill Securities, an investment banking and advisory firm. Prior to joining Burrill Securities, Mr. Frank was Vice Chairman of Peter J. Solomon Company (“Solomon”). Before joining Solomon, Mr. Frank was Vice Chairman of Lehman Brothers, Inc. (“Lehman”) and Barclays Capital. Before joining Lehman as a Partner in October 1969, Mr. Frank was co-director of research, as well as Vice President and Director of Smith Barney & Co. Incorporated. During his over 50 years on Wall Street, Mr. Frank has been involved in numerous financings and merger and acquisition transactions. He serves as an advisor to the board of directors of PDL BioPharma, and was a director for the Institute for Systems Biology and Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. Mr. Frank is Chairman of the National Genetics Foundation and he serves on the Advisory Boards for Yale School of Organization and Management, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center of Biomedical Innovation and was formerly an Advisory Member of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a graduate of Yale University, received an M.B.A. from Stanford University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Nelson Obus
Mr. Obus has served as director since October 2018. Mr. Obus is a sitting member of the Audit Committee and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. Nelson Obus is a co-founder, President and Chief Investment Officer at Wynnefield Capital, Inc. He co-founded the firm with Joshua Landes in November 1992. Mr. Obus manages the firm, oversees its investment portfolio and is a board member at Layne Christensen Company. Previously, he was the director of research at Schafer Capital Management, Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Obus was a director of sell side research in the equity sales department at Lazard Frères & Co. Before that, he was a manager at Massachusetts department of environmental management. Mr. Obus holds a BA in Politics from New York University as well as an MA in Political Science and an ABD in Politics from Brandeis University.
Tonia Pankopf
Ms. Pankopf has served as a director since November 2012. Ms. Pankopf serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee and a sitting member of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. Ms. Pankopf has been managing partner of Pareto Advisors, LLC since 2005. Previously, she was a senior analyst and managing director at Palladio Capital Management from January 2004 through April 2005. From 2001 to 2003, Ms. Pankopf served as an analyst and portfolio manager with P.A.W. Capital Partners, LP. Ms. Pankopf was a senior analyst and vice president at Goldman, Sachs & Co. from 1999 to 2001 and at Merrill Lynch & Co. from 1998 to 1999. Ms. Pankopf serves on the Board of Directors of TICC Capital Corp. and served on the Board of the University System of Maryland Foundation from 2006 to 2012. Ms. Pankopf is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has been designated an NACD Governance Fellow in recognition of her ongoing involvement in director professionalism and engagement with the director community. Ms. Pankopf received a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from the University of Maryland and an M.S. degree from the London School of Economics.
Catherine A. Sohn
Dr. Sohn has served as a director since November 2012. Dr. Sohn serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and the Lifecore Innovation Committee. Dr. Sohn brings significant industry experience in pharmaceutical and consumer health-related sectors based on her leadership and achievements in business development and new product commercialization over 28 years at GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”). Most recently, Dr. Sohn was Senior Vice President of Worldwide Business Development and Strategic Alliance for GSK’s $8 billion consumer healthcare division. Previously, Dr. Sohn established the U.S. vaccine business unit for SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals and subsequently led the commercialization of one of GSK’s top five largest pharmaceutical products. Dr. Sohn is Dean’s Professor at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and concurrently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for Drexel University School of Public Health and the Close School of Entrepreneurship, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners Investment Advisory Committee, Springboard Enterprises Life Science Council and was formerly a Member of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Advisory Board. Dr. Sohn is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Governance Fellow and a Certified Licensing Professional. Dr. Sohn received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from University of California in San Francisco and a Certificate in Professional Development from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Robert Tobin
Mr. Tobin has served as a director since December 2004. Mr. Tobin is a sitting member of the Audit Committee. Mr. Tobin retired from his position as Chief Executive Officer of Ahold USA in 2001. Mr. Tobin has over 40 years of industry experience in the food retail and food service sectors, having served as Chairman and CEO of Stop and Shop Supermarkets. This experience provides the Board of Directors with significant expertise with respect to issues facing the Company’s food business. An industry leader, Mr. Tobin serves on the advisory boards of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Undergraduate Business Program at Cornell University where he received his B.S. in Agricultural Economics.