Board of Directors

 

Board Chairman

Mark S. Germain

Mr. Germain is the Managing Director of The Olmsted Group, LLC, a merchant bank serving primarily the biotech and life sciences industries. He has been involved as a founder, director, Chairman of the Board, and/or investor in over twenty companies in the biotech field, assisting many of them in arranging corporate partnerships, acquiring technology, mergers and acquisitions, and financings. He graduated from the New York University School of Law in 1975, Order of the Coif, and practiced corporate and securities law before leaving for the private sector in 1986. Since then, and until he entered the biotech field in 1991, he served in senior executive capacities, including as president of a public company sold in 1991. Among the public biotech companies, Mr. Germain is a director of Wellford Real Properties, Inc. and chairman of its audit committee, and a director of Stem Cell Innovations, Inc.. Mr. Germain is a consultant to the Company and serves on its Board of Directors.

 

Vice Chairman

Frank C. Carlucci

Chairman Emeritus, The Carlyle Group, Washington, DC., Mr. Carlucci was U.S. Secretary of Defense from November 1987 through January 1989, following his service as Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs under President Reagan. Before serving in these positions, Mr. Carlucci was Chairman and CEO of Sears World Trade, a business he joined in 1983. Mr. Carlucci preceded his affiliation with Sears World Trade, Inc. with a career in government service, which included the positions of Deputy Secretary of Defense (1980-82), Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (1978-80), U.S. Ambassador to Portugal (1975-78), Under Secretary of Health Education and Welfare (1973-75), Deputy Director of OMB (1970-72), and Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (1969). Mr. Carlucci was a Foreign Service Officer from 1956 to 1980, and he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1954.

 

Chief Executive Officer – Collexis Holdings, Inc.

William D. Kirkland

Mr. Kirkland completed his studies at the University of South Carolina before a 20-year career of managerial and executive assignments throughout Pfizer and IBM. During this period, Mr. Kirkland managed multiple sales, business unit, operational, and product marketing teams. In his last assignment, Mr. Kirkland lead the Business Consulting Services Sales division of IBM's Life Sciences Business in the Americas. He serves on the boards of several industry organizations and groups throughout the United States. Mr. Kirkland is the CEO, President and a Director of the Company.

 

Directors

Mark Auerbach

Mr. Auerbach is currently a director on the board of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of late-stage anti-infective products and Chairman of the Board for Neuro Hitech. He is the former Executive Chairman of the Board of Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. (NYSE: PRX), a manufacturer and marketer of generic and branded pharmaceuticals. From 1993 through November 2005, he was CFO of Central Lewmar, a fine paper distributor. A Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Auerbach has been a board member of several small cap companies over the last twenty years.

 

John D. Macomber

Mr. Macomber is currently a director of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and AEA Investors LLC. Since 1992, he has been a Principal of the JDM Investment Group. He was Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States from 1989 to 1992. Before that, Mr. Macomber was Chairman and CEO of Celanese Corporation (1973 to 1986). From 1954 to 1973 he was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Co. He also held director positions at numerous companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, The Brown Group, Inc., Celgene Corporation, Chase Manhattan Bank, Florida Power & Light, Rand McNally, RJR Nabisco, Pilkington Ltd., Textron Inc., and Xerox Corporation. Mr. Macomber is also Chairman of the Council for Excellence in Government, Vice Chairman of The Atlantic Council of the United States, a Trustee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and The Folger Library, and Director of the Smithsonian National Board. Former non-profit directorships include the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the New York Philharmonic, and the New York Zoological Society.

 

John Regazzi

A pioneer in the electronic information industry, Dr. Regazzi served as Vice President of The H. W. Wilson Company from 1983-1988, leaving to become President and CEO of Engineering Information, Inc. (Ei). In 1998, he led the integration of Ei into Elsevier, a world leading scientific, technical and medical publisher. He was subsequently appointed CEO of Elsevier Inc. He has served on the Boards of Directors of Elsevier, NFAIS and the Division of Scholarly Communications of the American Association of Publishers. Dr. Regazzi is currently on the Boards of the British Standards Institute, Ei Foundation, and CABI. From July 2005 through August 2007, Regazzi held the position of Dean, College of Information and Computer Science and Dean, Palmer School of Library and Information Science at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Currently he is a tenured professor in the departments of Computer Science as well as Library and Information Science, teaching and conducting research in the areas of scholarly communication and management engineering.

 

Andrew A. Sorensen, Ph.D.

Dr. Sorensen is currently Distinguished Professor of the University at the University of South Carolina and President of the Institute for the Advancement of Health Care. He previously served as President of the University of South Carolina from 2002-2008, and President of the University of Alabama from 1996-2002. Before that he served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Florida (1990-1996) and Executive Directive of the AIDS Institute at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (1986-1990). He is a director of Zirus, Inc. and has held director positions at several companies, including Blount International and Carolina First Bank. Dr. Sorensen is Chairman of the Board of the Governor’s School of Science and Math (SC) and Honorary Chairman of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Columbia (SC). He is also a member of the National Institutes of Health National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity, a director of the Association of Academic Health Centers and the National Board of Public Health Examiners. He is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge, and has been a visiting faculty member at the Harvard Medical School and has served in leadership positions for many other institutions. Among his numerous awards are honorary doctoral degrees from the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, the University of Queensland (Australia) and the University of South Carolina.

 

Management -- Collexis Holdings, Inc.

 

William E. Kirkland, President & Chief Executive Officer

Bill is the President, CEO, and a member of the Board of Directors of Collexis Holdings Inc. He was a cofounder of Collexis Holdings in 2006, helping to bring European technology to the global community. Bill completed his studies at the University of South Carolina before a 20-year career of managerial and executive assignments throughout Pfizer and IBM. During this period, Bill ran multiple sales, business unit, operational, and product marketing teams. In his last assignment, he ran the Business Consulting Services Sales division of IBM's Life Sciences Business in the Americas. He serves on the boards of several industry organizations and groups throughout the United States.

 

Stephen A. Leicht, Chief Operating Officer

Steve was a co-founder of Collexis Holdings Inc. with William Kirkland, helping to bring European technology into global markets in 2006. Along with the regional operations teams, Steve manages the two company business units in the US Legal Markets and the International Science, Technical, and Medical Business. Prior to Collexis, he worked at IBM in increasing roles of responsibility in Territory and Emerging Technology management and executive positions for the IBM sales and distribution organization. In his early career, Steve founded, ran, and eventually sold International Telecommunications Distributors, acting as the Chairman and CEO. He has an MBA from The Pennsylvania State University and a Business Degree from Bucknell University. Steve serves on Board and advisory committees for companies, universities, and industry groups and is a regular speaker at industry events.

 

Darrell W. Gunter, Chief Marketing Officer

Darrell is responsible for the worldwide strategy and marketing to support the company’s short- and long-term objectives. Previously, Darrell was the Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing for the Americas marketplace for Elsevier. Over his eleven-year tenure, he led the development and growth of Elsevier’s first commercial sales organization and moved the customer print base to long-term electronic agreements. Prior to Elsevier he worked for Dow Jones Financial News Services where he started as an Account Manager and was promoted up to the National Sales Director position. He began his career in sales at Xerox Corporation. He serves on the Content Board of the SIIA, the Double7Film Advisory Board and is the Chairman of the Board for the Women’s Venture Fund.

 

Bob Schijvenaars, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer

Bob manages the Collexis Research team. He is a graduate of Leiden University, where he majored in Astronomy and Computer Science. He participated in research projects that involved signal analysis, image processing, and pattern recognition. His Ph.D. work focused on the automated interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECG’s). Bob played a major role in transferring the interpretation software to companies licensing it. Bob is a demanded speaker on knowledge management technologies and has led the efforts with his team on the success of Collexis at the National Institutes of Health.

 

Martin Schmidt, Chief Technology Officer

Martin is responsible for Collexis’ global product development and software innovation. Prior to Collexis, Martin found the German company SyynX Solutions GmbH, together with Mario Diwersy in 1999. He served as Managing Director. Under the leadership of Martin and Mario, SyynX became the global leader in application development on top of the Collexis core environment. Before joining SyynX, Martin was an independent consultant for SHARED - a project funded by the European Commission to share healthcare information with developing nations via the Internet. For the decade proceeding Martin’s foray into IT, he was a successful independent musician and composer in jazz and modern music. Martin serves on the supervisory board of e.Consult AG.

 

Mark Murphy, Chief Financial Officer

Mark Murphy brings more than thirty years of financial expertise to Collexis and is primarily responsible for the company’s financial reporting and corporate governance. Most recently, Mark served as the Senior Vice President of Finance for PCA International, Inc. where he directed all finance and treasury functions for the multi-million dollar retail photography business that operated over 2,000 studios in Wal-Mart stores in six countries. Previously, Mark spent eight years with the Kellogg Company. Working in several positions, including Director of Operations for Kellogg Snacks DSDD, he directed supply chain efforts and was responsible for product forecasting, deployment, and tracking. As the CFO of the Kellogg Company Warehouse Club and Specialty Products business units, Mark managed strategic planning and analysis, trade spending, business and financial reporting, and a variety of other financial efforts. Mark received a B.B.A. from Ohio University.

 

Mario Diwersy, Executive Vice President of Technology

Mario currently manages the global development effort for Collexis. Mario founded the German company SyynX Solutions GmbH, together with Martin Schmidt in 1999. He served as Managing Director. Under the leadership of Mario and Martin, SyynX became a global leader in application development on top of the Collexis core environment. Before joining SyynX, Mario worked within GTZ (German development co-operation agency) in the implementation of Internet and Intranet and in the implementation of SHARED - a project funded by the European Commission to share healthcare information with developing nations via the Internet.

 

Steve C. Nash, Senior Vice President – Operations

Steve is responsible for Collexis’ Corporate Operations overseeing logistical operations and contract execution . After working for several years in the operational side of the insurance industry, Steve became involved in Project Management and has over 20 years experience in managing software implementations and internal operations with Policy Management Systems Corporation and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. He is a certified project manager and received his Bachelors of Science degree in Insurance and Financial Responsibility while studying at both the University of Alabama and University of South Carolina.

 

Christian Herzog, MD, Managing Director - Science, Technical, and Medical Markets

Christian is responsible for Collexis Science, Technical, and Medical Markets and global sales organization. He did his medical training at the Private University Witten/Herdecke in Germany with an emphasis on life-science-related economics. After his studies, Christian worked for the GTZ GmbH on health insurance programs and large medical software implementations in Sub-Saharan Africa. After holding various managerial positions in different consulting companies focused on health care and the life science industry, Christian joined SyynX as a shareholder and CEO in 2005, until the acquisition of the company. Christian has (co-)authored three books and several scientific papers.

 

Steven Newsom, Managing Director- Legal Markets

Steve is responsible for Collexis Legal business and global sales organization. With over 25 years experience in business development, marketing and sales, Steve has been at the forefront of many successful ventures, primarily international companies wishing to establish a foothold in North America. As a former Vice President of Sales and Marketing, General Manager, CEO, business owner and venture capital advisor, he has a broad range of business knowledge that he has brought with him to Collexis. Steve currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina, with his wife and boasts that his proudest accomplishments are his two daughters.

 

Jon Lieberman, VP of Sales for Government Sector

Jon is responsible for Collexis Government business sector sales team. He brings 20 years of experience with federal government contract work. After beginning his career in the U.S. Department of Labor, Jon built two successful technology services companies for government contracting. He spent ten years representing software technologies including Convera, Siderean, and Vivisimo, building significant partner business relationships. Jon was Convera’s most successful manager of DOD and defense intelligence business over its more than 20 year history. He forged long-lasting relationships with some of the military’s most respected advisors. He closed significant business deals with every major branch of military service, including Army, Navy, Air Force and joint commands under the Office of the Secretary of Defense.