Texas Emerging Technology Fund - Advisory Committee

The Governor has appointed a blue-ribbon ETF Advisory Committee composed of individuals who are industry leaders in Texas, and/or are nationally recognized researchers from Texas' public or private higher education institutions.

The appointed members volunteer their time to serve a two-year term. The Committee reviews commercialization and matching grant proposals, and makes recommendations through evaluation processes to the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker.

Current ETF Advisory Committee:

Terry C. Hazell, TETF Advisory Committee Chair
Texas State University
Georgetown
Terry Chase Hazell is Director of RampCorp, a Texas State University program to help women entrepreneurs across Texas start their first scalable venture. She is a member of the National Advisory Board for Springboard Enterprises, which has helped women raise $5.5 billion in capital.

Hazell is a Charter Member of the Startup America Partnership's Women's Entrepreneurship Working Group. Her specific expertise is biologics manufacturing, and has founded two biotechnology-related spin-out companies for the University of Maryland. She is also a columnist for the Austin Business Journal and a member of Austin Women in Technology and the Women's Global Network. Hazell previously served the Texas Emerging Technology Fund as an advisory board member and a member of the Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization Selection Committee. She holds a bachelor's degree in life science and a master's degree in biotechnology management from the University of Maryland.

Mike Blue
Ernst & Young, Austin office
Austin
Michael Blue is the Managing Partner for the Austin office of Ernst & Young. Prior to assuming his roles in Austin, Michael was a Partner in the firm's Capital Markets Group in Paris, France and was responsible for European multinational companies going public in the US and other European multinationals registered on U.S. stock exchanges. He has also worked in San Jose, Frankfurt, Germany and Houston offices. Michael has over 26 years experience serving high growth, technology companies, from venture backed start-ups to multinational public and privately held companies with a focus on the semiconductor, software and biotechnology industries. He has extensive expertise in SEC reporting, corporate governance, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as international accounting and auditing, and strategic transactions. His clients have included Luminex, GenSet, Whole Foods, Business Objects, Cirrus Logic, Hytek Microsystems, ISSI, National Instruments, SAS, Silicon Laboratories, Topaz Semiconductor, and Xilinx.

Michael has served or currently serves on the Boards of Ballet Austin, The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, The University of Texas Accounting Department Advisory Board, and The United Way Capital Area. In addition, he serves on the Audit Committee for KLRU Public Television.

Note: Michael Blue was appointed by Joe Straus, Speaker of the House.

A. Charles Fischer
Business Consultant
Austin
Charlie Fischer joined The Dow Chemical Company in 1967 as an agricultural products salesman. During his career at Dow he progressed through the sales and marketing channels and subsequently a number of general management positions. In 1997 he was named President/CEO of Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company and held this position until his retirement in February of 2004. While Fischer was President he was responsible for approximately 6000 employees residing around the world with annual sales of four million dollars and a budget of more then one billion dollars. A very large part of this budget was spent on discovery, development and commercial introduction of new chemicals and seeds for agricultural.

Fischer is a board member of Neogen Corporation, a global food and animal safety company. He is a member of the board of advisors at FLM, a strategic marketing and communications company that serves clients who specialize in the business of agriculture and life in rural communities. Additionally he is a member of the Board of Directors at Vive Crop Protection Inc., a start-up company located in Toronto Canada.

During his career he had a number of memberships and affiliations. He was Chairman of Crop Life America and CropLife International, associations that represented crop protection companies in the US and globally. Fischer was an executive board member of BIO (Association of Biotechnology companies), Chairman of the National FFA Foundation Sponsors Board and served on numerous other charitable boards through out his career.

Fischer graduated from Texas A&M University earning his B.S. degree in Animal Science. Upon graduation he was also commissioned and served two years in the US Army as a field artillery officer.

Note: A. Charles Fischer was appointed by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst.

William Freed
Nueces Marketing Partners, Ltd.
San Antonio
William Freed is the Principal at Nueces Marketing Partners, Ltd., a private investment partnership that concentrates on investing in privately owned companies with need for strategic assistance in marketing, finance or strategic direction. Prior to joining Nueces, Freed was Chairman of Call Home America, Inc. and President of Travis Telecom, firms that were acquired by Global Crossing, Ltd. and Qwest, respectively. From 1981 to 1995, Freed led the expansion of Chair King Furniture Company, Inc., a family owned furniture retailer.

The San Antonio Zoological Society, San Antonio Children's Museum and the St. Mary's University Forum on Entrepreneurship are among the numerous civic and charitable organizations in which Freed holds leadership positions. He is a marketing/real estate graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

Note: William Freed was appointed by Joe Straus, Speaker of the House.

Susan Georgen-Saad
Cenoplex, Inc
Austin
As Cenoplex's chief financial officer, Sue Georgen-Saad leads the company's ongoing financial and operational strategy. Cenoplex, though its breakthrough platform, Customer Lifecycle Management, is helping wireless operators communicate with customers more effectively with significantly lower costs. Prior to joining Cenoplex, Georgen-Saad maintained a full-service consulting practice, providing investment and managerial services to private and publicly traded companies. She has held numerous executive management positions including CFO and chief administrative officer for drkoop.com, a well-known early leader in the web-based consumer healthcare service market and CFO at publicly held companies Clinicor, Inc. and IntelliQuest Information Group.

Georgen-Saad's career started in the audit department at KPMG Peat Marwick in Manhattan, where her clients included companies and organizations in the financial services, health care, real estate and pension industries. She parlayed her early experience into executive level roles as CFO and COO at various financial institutions including Residential Capital Corporation, Ameriway Savings Association, and Mercantile Mortgage Corporation, where she supervised financial, treasury, accounting and operational programs. Georgen-Saad is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.

Thomas Halbouty
Pioneer Natural Resources
Southlake
Thomas Halbouty of Southlake is corporate vice president, chief information officer, and chief technology officer of Pioneer Natural Resources. He is also a CPA and a certified management accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of CPA's, Texas Society of CPA's, Institute of Management Accountants, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He is a board member and past vice president of Energistics, an advisor for the Council on Competitiveness Energy Security, Innovation and Sustainability Initiative, U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative in Washington, D.C., and the Joint U.S.-China Cooperation on Clean Energy. He is also a member of the Spotfire Advisory Board, an industry representative and past co-chair of the Texas Nanoelectronics Taskforce, and a mentor for Menttium 100. Halbouty received a bachelor's degree from the University of Houston and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dallas.

Judy Hawley
Portland
Judy Hawley is a now retired business developer for Advanced Acoustic Concepts and formerly served as a Texas State Representative. During her tenure in the House, she served as chair of the Rural Caucus where she helped establish the Office of Rural Community Affairs. She also served as vice chair of the Transportation and Energy Resources committees. As vice chair of the House Military Caucus, she helped establish the Texas Military Preparedness Commission and the Office of Defense Affairs. Hawley later represented Texas as vice chair of the Southern States Energy Board and as a member of the National Energy Council. She is a commissioner of the Port of Corpus Christi, chair of the I-69 Alliance, past chair of the Texas Transportation Commission Advisory Board, and a member of the 2030 Transportation Committee. Hawley is also chair of the Texas State Aquarium Board, and a board member and former chair of the Corpus Christi and San Patricio Regional Economic Development corporations. She received a bachelor's degree from Knox College and a master's degree from Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Randal Hill
Randy Hill Racing
Baird
Randal "Randy" Hill is a Texas entrepreneur and inventor. Currently he is a NASCAR team owner and the president and CEO of Randy Hill Racing. His patented invention of the peanut trailer helped revolutionize the peanut industry by allowing for the storing, drying and transportation of peanuts in one vehicle. He previously served as the president and CEO of APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP. He is also a board member of Christian Homes of Abilene and Disability Resources Inc., and a philanthropist who helped fund projects to give free iPads to teachers and students at two different Christian schools in Texas. Hill received a bachelor's degree from Abilene Christian University.

Ofer Molad
PerSys Medical
Houston
Ofer Molad is President and CEO of PerSys Medical. He is credited with innovating modern military medical technology by commercializing products such as the "Israeli Bandage" (an emergency bandage that was used in operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom), the Bon Injection Gun, the Blizzard Survival product line, and other lifesaving technologies. Molad received a bachelor's degree from Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel and a master's degree in counseling from the University of North Texas. He was also a doctoral fellow of education and management at Clark University in Worchester, Massachusetts.

David Miller
Flat Wireless, LLC
Lubbock
David L. Miller is the COO of Flat Wireless, LLC which is an emerging telecommunications carrier operating markets in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and California. In his current role, Miller has oversight for marketing, sales, logistics, product management, wholesale operations, and customer care.

Miller is the former vice chancellor for Research and Commercialization for the Texas Tech University System. In this role, Miller reported to the chancellor and had primary responsibility for the development of a diverse and growing number of technologies discovered within the university system. Prior to joining the university system, Miller served as vice president of marketing at Alamosa PCS Holdings, Inc., Sprint's largest telecommunications affiliate. He is the owner of FCC wireless spectrum in the United States in the 700MHz and AWS spectrum bands. He is active in several entrepreneurial ventures in the wireless sector. He is vice president of Omega Mission International, and past board chair of the National Institute for Renewable Energy and Living Abundantly Ministries. Miller holds a bachelor's degree from Midwestern State University, and a MBA and law Degree from Texas Tech University.

Dr. William H. Rice
Hospital Corporation of America / St. David's HealthCare
Austin
Dr. William H. Rice has been the Senior Vice President for Clinical Innovation for the Central and West Texas Division of the Hospital Corporation of America since February, 2011. Prior to this, he was co-founder and chief medical officer of Whiteglove Health, a company focused on disruptive innovation to improve service quality and lower costs in the delivery of primary care for routine, chronic disease and geriatric populations from 2007 to 2011. From 2004 to 2006 he was chief medical officer of myDNA Media and, after acquisition, consultant to Steve Case's health portal Revolution Health in Washington, D.C. In 2006, Dr. Rice was a founding board member of IPX, Inc., a cloud-based, intellectual property management platform focused on commercialization and management of IP assets for universities and businesses.

Between 2002 and 2004, Dr. Rice served as a board member in a number of early stage companies in the biotechnology, bioinformatics, and national security spaces. In 2001 he served at the White House as assistant director for technology development in the Executive Office of the President.

Between 1997 and 1999, Dr. Rice was a venture partner at Murphree Ventures, where he focused on the evaluation, investment, and board oversight of a wide array of early stage technology companies, from hybrid fiber "last mile" data solutions, to laser wireless, microchip design, and novel biopharma therapeutics.

Dr. Rice practiced clinical emergency medicine for 14 years between 1984 and 1997 and cared for approximately 100,000 emergency department patients during that time. In 1986 he co-founded Stat Healthcare Inc. and served as Chairman and CEO of the company from inception to its public offering in April 1995.

Dr. Rice attended the University of Michigan and received a B.S. in Physiology with High Honors in 1978. He received an M.D. degree from the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio in 1983 and thereafter received post-graduate residency training in general surgery.

Note: Dr. William H. Rice was appointed by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst.

Richard T. Schoephoerster
University of Texas - El Paso
El Paso
Since 2007 Dr. Richard T. Schoephoerster has been the Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso. Prior his role at the University of Texas at El Paso Dr. Schoephoerster worked with Florida International University (FIU) in 1990. He established and served as the initial director of the Cardiovascular Engineering Center in 1997 and the Biomedical Engineering Institute in 1999. The Institute was converted to department status in August 2003 with Dr. Schoephoerster serving as the founding chair. In 2001 he led the establishment of the FIU Biomedical Engineering Partnership Program, a joint enterprise of FIU, healthcare providers, and biomedical companies. In 2005 he was named the Wallace H. Coulter Eminent Scholars Chair in Biomedical Engineering. In 2008 he was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and in 2011 he was elected a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

He has served on a variety of local and national committees and boards for the American Heart Association, including chair of the National Bioengineering and Biotechnology Research Peer Review Committee. He has also served on the Florida Biomedical Research Advisory Council, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Award Panel, and the NSF Biomedical Engineering CAREER Panel. Dr. Schoephoerster received his B.S. in biomedical engineering in 1985, and his M.S. (1986) and Ph.D. (1989) in mechanical engineering, all from the University of Iowa.

Wesley Glenn Terrell
AT&T
Dallas
Wesley Glenn Terrell is currently a mergers, acquisitions, and venture capital lawyer with AT&T at the company's headquarters in Dallas. Terrell had led dozens of deals during his tenure at AT&T with a total transaction value of approximately $5 billion. Prior to joining AT&T, Terrell worked at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP as a transactional lawyer working in the areas of M&A and corporate finance. As a transactional lawyer, Terrell assisted in M&A transactions with a total value of approximately $6.5 billion and public and private financings with a total value of approximately $560 million.

Terrell is currently the treasurer and director of the African-American bar association in Dallas and the director and treasurer of J.L. Turner Legal Association Foundation. Terrell has received several awards, including the Dallas Business Journal's 2011 Minority Business Leader Award and recognized by the State Bar of Texas for providing pro bono legal services to low-income Texans. Terrell is a graduate of Yale University, Columbia Law School, C.T. Bauer College of Business (MBA), and SMU Cox School of Business Graduate Finance Certificate Program.

John Schrock Sr.
Lifetime Industries
McAllen
John Schrock is president and CEO of Lifetime Industries Inc. He is chairman of the McAllen Medical Center, McAllen Heart Hospital, and McAllen Medical Foundation. Schrock is also vice chairman of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation and past president of the Boys and Girls Club of McAllen. He is a member of the McAllen Economic Development Corporation and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Additionally, he is an executive committee member of the University of Texas Pan American Foundation Board. Schrock is board chairman of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and formerly served in the U.S. Army as an intelligence officer for the Army Security Agency. He received a bachelor's degree from Texas A&I College.

Jaye Thompson, Ph.D.
Opexa Therapeutics, Inc.
The Woodlands
Jaye Thompson has more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and currently serves as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs for Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to joining Opexa, she was the senior vice president for regulatory affairs and emerging biotechnologies at inVentiv Clinical Solutions, LLC (NASDAQ, VTIV), a full-serve contract research organization. Prior to its acquisition by inVentiv in 2006, Dr. Thompson was president and founder of SYNERGOS, Inc, a leading contract research organization based in The Woodlands. Under her leadership, SYNERGOS (founded in 1991) grew and gained a reputation as one of the foremost clinical research organizations in the region.

She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and BioHouston Associate Advisory board. Dr. Thompson also serves on the board of directors for Repros Therapeutics Inc, the MD Anderson technology review committee, BioHouston associate advisory board, as a board member for Class Act Productions. Dr. Thompson holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Texas A&M University and an MS and a PhD in biostatistics from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

Richard Williams
Head of Renewable Energy - Energy Future Holdings
Dallas
In his role in corporate development and strategy at Energy Future Holdings (EFH), Richard Williams is director of strategy and mergers and acquisitions, which includes exploring and screening new and emerging technologies. Formerly TXU Corp., EFH is the leading purchaser of wind energy in Texas and is committed to increasing its investment in clean sources of electricity including renewable resources and development of alternative energy technology. Williams previously served as part of TXU's corporate strategy team, which included originating and executing value-creating M&A transactions. He participated in the $45 billion buyout of TXU to a group of private buyers led by Goldman Sachs, KKR, and TPG. Prior to joining EFH, he was a member of Deutsche Bank's Energy, Utilities, and Chemicals investment banking practice in New York where he negotiated international transactions ranging in size from $250 million to $40 billion. Williams received a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and currently lives in Dallas.

Robert G. Wright, II
Dallas Social Venture Partners
Dallas
Robert G. Wright, II is the founder of Dallas Social Venture Partners (DSVP), an initiative that seeks to apply business principles to philanthropy. DSVP comprises more than 130 successful, committed, community-focused individuals who invest money and time in carefully selected local nonprofit organizations to increase their effectiveness DSVP is a charter member of Social Venture Partners International (SVPI), a network of 26 social venture partnerships around the globe.

Wright is a founding board member of SVPI and previously served as its president. He also serves on the board of the OneStar Foundation, a Texas quasi-governmental foundation that supports the nonprofit sector and its stakeholders through initiatives that increase civic engagement, research, rigorous evaluation and nonprofit organizational excellence. He recently co-authored a book, "The Little Green Book of Venture Philanthropy" and is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he teaches Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector. Wright founded two computer game companies - ION Storm, which developed games for the PC, and Edge of Reality, which specialized in console games and platform ports - and helped organize and direct the first co-operative game publisher, Gathering of Developers.

Wright is currently evaluating systems, processes, and market opportunity for expanding Executives in Action nationwide. Prior to its acquisition by Quest Software, Inc, in January 2011 Wright was a senior vice president and general counsel of BakBone Software, Inc., a La Jolla-based software company, where he was responsible for general corporate affairs and legal matters worldwide and Skywire Software, LLC, where he acted in a similar capacity. Skywire was sold to Oracle, Inc. in July 2008. Wright began his career at Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C., specializing in leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, and securities and regulatory law. In 1992, he left Jenkens & Gilchrist to form his own legal and consulting practice. Wright received a bachelor's degree from Allegheny College and a law degree and MBA from Texas Tech University.