POS Board of Directors

Dennis Mulvihill
Dennis is Chairperson of the POS Board of Directors. He is Managing Director, Corporate Finance with RBC Capital Markets. He has over 30 years of experience in the investment industry in Canada, specifically in institutional sales, investment banking, management and capital markets. He is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan and has been employed with Royal Trust Corporation, Houston Willoughby, and Pemberton Securities. Dennis has worked with RBC Dominion Securities since 1974 and is presently responsible for RBC Dominion Securities global banking operations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

John Cross
Trained as a chemical engineer John Cross joined the Food Research and Development Department of John Labatt in London, Ontario in 1965. His work centered on the development and commercialization of new products in the fermentation, food, beverage, dairy and animal feed industries. In 1980, he was a founding partner, President and CEO, and is now Chairman, of Philom Bios Inc. Philom Bios develops, manufactures, and markets high value inoculants which enhance fertility efficiency of crops and increase farmer profit, and is the leading inoculant supplier to Western Canadian and North Dakota farmers. Products include JumpStart, the world's first commercial phosphate inoculant; a line of Phozobium products under the N-Prove label; and TagTeam the world's first combination nitrogen and phosphate inoculant.

Previously a member of the National Research Council of Canada and Chairman of the Saskatchewan Research Council, Mr. Cross:

• was selected the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Prairie Region, in Science and Technology in 1995, and in the Health Science category in 2004.
• received the first Agribusiness Leadership Award from the Saskatoon and District Chamber of Commerce in 1998.
• in April 2002, was granted an Honorary Life Membership in the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists,
• received the Ag-West Biotech BioScience Award for Entrepreneurial leadership and vision in May 2003.

Tom Gottemoller
Tom Gottemoller is Manager, Food Processing Research at Archer Daniels Midland Company in Decatur, Illinois, and has been with ADM since 1992.  Tom is responsible for management of all food processing pilot plant research.  Over the years he has served in various capacities at ADM including ADM's Protein Specialties Division specializing in process development and application development for soy products.  Prior to joining ADM, Tom worked for Germantown US in research for the development and use of hydrocolloids and emulsifiers in foods.  He also worked in the area of operations for three dairy companies. Tom attended the University of Maryland, Villanova University in Pennsylvania, and Illinois State University.  He holds degrees in Agricultural Biochemistry, Mechanical Engineering, and Business Administration.

Dr. Abdul Jalil
Dr. Jalil is a Director of Agriculture Research Branch of Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. He is responsible for the administration and management of provincial Research and Development investments in agriculture. He is secretary to the Agriculture Development Fund (ADF). Dr. Jalil is currently serving on various boards of non-profit organizations including Ag. West Bio Inc., Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) Flax Canada 2015, and Agri-Food Innovation Fund. Prior to joining the Ministry, he worked for three years as a visiting scientist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. His diverse career includes experiences in many areas including teaching, research, and administration.

Dr. Jalil was born and raised in Pakistan. After obtaining his M.Sc (honours) in Agriculture moved to California, USA in 1985 and earned his Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of California at Davis. 

Dr. Murray McLaughlin
(B.Sc. McGill University, M.Sc. and Ph.D. Cornell University) has and continues to be active in Canadian agriculture. He was President and CEO of Foragen for 7 years, the only early seed stage venture fund focused on advanced agricultural technologies in Canada. He stepped down in July 2005 once the fund was fully invested. Dr. McLaughlin has held various positions in the private, government and non-profit sectors including Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, President of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, Deputy Minister of Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, President of Ag-West Biotech Inc. where he helped build the Saskatoon cluster, and several assignments with ELANCO.  Dr. McLaughlin manages McLaughlin Consultants Inc., a firm focused on providing sound advice to agriculture, food and life sciences. He recently accepted the position of Director of Business Development for the Canadian Light Source (Synchrotron) in Saskatoon.

Dr. McLaughlin's career has focused on agricultural science including research, development and product management and marketing. He is a member of numerous Boards of Directors and Advisory Committees.  He has been awarded the Canadian Agri-Marketer of the Year award from the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association, the Alumni of the Year from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and the National Merit Award from the Ottawa Life Sciences Council. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Dalhousie University/Nova Scotia Agriculture College, May, 2006.

Mark Pickard
Mark was raised on a farm in southern Saskatchewan and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan. He is President of InfraReady Products (1998) Ltd., which specializes in the processing of cereals, pulses and oilseeds, and uses infra-red energy to make products ready or more convenient. InfraReady Products continues to invest in science to improve its products and expand its markets, including the sale of precooked lentils and peas to Latin America, organic ingredients to the United States, and blended bakery products to Asia. In 2000, InfraReady was awarded the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP) Exporter of the Year Award. In addition to serving on the POS Board, Mark is also on the Board of the Saskatchewan Food Development Center and the Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network, and is a member of the Canadian Agri-Food Marketing Council (CAMC).

Johann F. Tergesen
Mr. Johann Tergesen joined the POS Board of Directors in 2007. Mr. Tergesen is the president and chief operating officer of Burcon NutraScience Corporation as well as president of Svaren Financial Consultants, a private investment and financial advisory company.

Burcon NutraScience (TSX-V: BU), in conjunction with Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), is currently focusing its efforts on developing the world's first commercial canola proteins, Puratein™ and Supertein™: proteins with properties comparable to egg and with valuable nutritional profiles which are expected to participate with soy, dairy and egg proteins in the multi-billion dollar global protein ingredient market.

Prior to his roles as president, COO and director of Burcon NutraScience, Mr. Tergesen was vice president and treasurer of Burcon Properties Limited, a real estate development and ownership company with assets in excess of 3.0 billion. Mr. Tergesen has been with the Burcon group of companies since December of 1995. Before joining Burcon, Mr. Tergesen was a manager in the corporate finance group of the Vancouver office of Coopers & Lybrand, Chartered Accountants. Mr. Tergesen is a former director of and past-chair of the WCFN (The Western Canadian Functional Food & Natural Health Product Network). Mr. Tergesen holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Winnipeg, and an MBA from McGill University. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Ex-Officio:

Robert E. Morgan
President & CEO, POS Pilot Plant

Lorne Green
Chief Financial Officer, POS Pilot Plant

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