Board of Directors
We welcome you to SWeNT and would be pleased to explore your interests in our current products as well as future development of new materials to serve your needs.
-W. Arthur Porter, Chairman of the Board
W. Arthur “Skip” Porter
Chairman of the Board
As Oklahoma’s first secretary for Science and Technology and the University of Oklahoma’s first university vice president for Technology Development, W. Arthur “Skip” Porter helped lead the state’s efforts to transform its economy from one based on commodities to one based on intellectual property and technology.
Prior to coming to Oklahoma in 1998, Porter was president and CEO of the Houston Advanced Research Center, a nonprofit, university-linked research institution with major research interests in energy, the environment and policy studies focused on IP development and transferring technology to the marketplace. He previously served as director and CEO of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, part of the Texas A&M University System, and was a tenured professor of electrical engineering and director of A&M’s Institute for Solid State Electronics.
In addition to serving as SWeNT’s chairman, Porter also is a board member of three publicly-traded companies: Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE), Bookham Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ and LSE) and Electro Scientific Industries (NASDAQ). He served as ESI’s chairman from 1987 to 1992.
Porter holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from the University of North Texas and a doctorate in interdisciplinary engineering from Texas A&M. He formerly served as dean of OU’s College of Engineering.
James P. Ashman
Director
James P. Ashman has more than two decades experience as a venture capitalist and finance executive. Among the seed and early-stage companies in which he has invested and been involved are Amici LLC, which was sold to Xerox Corp., and CAI Wireless Systems, Inc., a publicly-traded wireless telecommunications company acquired by MCI/WorldCom.
His career in corporate finance at Prudential Securities Inc. included executing public offerings of debt and equity, private placements and merger and acquisition advisories for companies in a wide-range of industries. He also served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and member of the board of directors of CAI Wireless Systems, Inc. Currently, Ashman is a member of the board of directors of Starfire Systems, Inc., a Malta, N.Y.-based developer and manufacturer of nano-structured ceramic materials and finished products.
He holds a BA degree in economics and an MBA, both from Columbia University.
Myron Bond
Director
Myron Bond is currently a senior vice president – investments of UBS Financial Services Inc. in Dallas. He holds bachelor and master of science degrees in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Before joining UBS Financial Services in 1968, Bond worked as an engineer for ExxonMobil in Houston. He also serves as president and chairman of Four Bees Ranch Inc. and as director of Bond Family Inc.
Bharat S. Chahar
Director
The former director of the Advanced Technology in the Emerging Technology Group of ConocoPhillips Inc. in Ponca City, Okla., Chahar currently serves as the company’s manager, Composite Graphite in Houston. He has 22 years of industrial R&D experience with Conoco and ConocoPhillips, including technical support, process development and product development. For the past five years, Chahar has played a leadership role in the development of carbon products based on ConocoPhillips carbon upgrading core competency. He holds a doctoral degree in chemical engineering.
Anil Gollahalli
Director
As university vice president for Technology Development and assistant general counsel for the university, Anil Gollahalli directs the commercialization operations of the OTD and provides intellectual property counsel. A Norman native, he returned to OU in 2006, after practicing law in Dallas, first with Jenkens & Gilchrist P.C. and later Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP. Gollahalli has extensive experience in the intellectual property fields of patent, copyright and trademark law, and has additional expertise in licensing.
Gollahalli earned his chemical engineering degree from OU in 1997 and his law degree from the University of Chicago in 2000. After law school, he served as law clerk to the Hon. Lee R. West, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Gollahalli also is licensed to practice before the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office and is active in the American Bar Association and American Intellectual Property Law Association.
M.R. (Merl) Lindstrom
Director
Merl Lindstrom is general manager of downstream research and development for ConocoPhillips. Lindstrom began his career with Phillips in 1978 as a research chemist in research and development. In 1984, he was promoted to section supervisor with R&D in the polymers and materials area. Three years later, he became director of industry analysis in planning and budgeting for Phillips 66 Co., a division of Phillips. In 1988, Lindstrom became director of alloys, blends and compounds in plastics.
He served as director of plastics/chemicals in planning and budgeting for Phillips 66 Co. before being named manager of the chemicals division for the R&D staff in 1991. From 1998 to 2001 he served as Woods Cross business unit manager for Phillips 66 Co. In 2001, Lindstrom returned to Bartlesville, Okla., as manager of technology services and facilities in the technology and project development division of Phillips Petroleum Co.
Daniel E. Resasco
Director
Daniel Resasco is SWeNT’s chief scientist and directs the carbon nanotube research team that invented the CoMoCAT® catalytic process. He also is Douglas and Hilda Bourne Chair of Chemical Engineering and George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma.
Resasco holds numerous industrial patents and has been principal investigator on many federal and state research grants. A former senior scientist for Sun Oil Co., he is a frequent industrial consultant for Fortune 500 energy and chemical companies and a sought-after speaker at industrial and academic conferences.
In 2004, Resasco received the Oklahoma Chemist Award from the American Chemical Society and the Yale Science and Engineering Award. He serves as editor of the Journal of Catalysis and formerly served on the editorial board of Applied Catalysis.
He holds a doctoral degree from Yale University.