Developer Bios
Barry Beaty
Chief scientific officer of MicroRX
Beaty is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Colorado State University Distinguished Professor. The latter is an honor reserved for no more than 12 university professors and recognizes outstanding contributions in research, teaching and service. He is a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He received his doctorate degree from the University of Wisconsin and served on the faculty at Yale University before joining CSU in 1982.
Beaty is known nationally and internationally for his work and leadership in infectious diseases, such as dengue, yellow fever, West Nile fever, LaCrosse encephalitis and other mosquito-borne pathogens. His work to control these diseases is or has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and other agencies. Beaty also founded and served as director of the Arthropod-borne Infectious Diseases Laboratory at Colorado State as well as the Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases. He also previously served as director of the university's Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence in Infectious Diseases.
Bill Farland
Vice president for Research
Farland, the highest ranking career scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency, joined Colorado State in October 2006 as the vice president for Research. At the EPA, he was deputy assistant administrator for science in the Office of Research and Development. He also directed the EPA’s Office of the Science Advisor, which serves as the authority on integrating sound science into regulatory decisions. Farland’s 27-year federal career was characterized by a commitment to developing national and international approaches to interdisciplinary research, testing and assessment of the fate and effects of environmental agents. Farland received his doctorate in cell biology and biochemistry from UCLA.
Tony Frank
Provost and senior vice president
Frank joined Colorado State in 1993, as chairman of the Department of Pathology and associate dean for Research in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Frank was appointed vice president for Research and Information Technology in 2000. After his appointment as provost and senior vice president in July 2005, he embraced the responsibility of coordinating the academic core of the university. Frank received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Illinois. He completed his doctorate and residencies in pathology and toxicology at Purdue University.
Kathleen Henry
President, Colorado State University Research Foundation
As president/CEO of CSURF, Henry provides leadership and vision for the foundation as it aids and supports the university’s strategic goals. As a graduate of Colorado State, Henry spent 11 years as a commercial banker with United Banks of Colorado. Following several years as an investment banker with Boettcher and Company, Henry returned to her alma mater in 1983 as vice president of CSURF. She became president/CEO in 1988. Henry was asked to fill the additional position of president/CEO of the Colorado State University Foundation in 1990, and continues to serve in both capacities.
Dr. Terry Opgenorth
Chief operating officer for MicroRx and NeoTREX
Opgenorth is an expert in drug discovery and development. As a former research executive at Abbott, Opgenorth is widely regarded as an accomplished drug discovery scientist and leader. He was instrumental in the development of atrasentan, a drug with promise for treating advanced prostate cancer, and has identified potential new treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity, and antiviral drugs. He also was a driving force behind several of the company’s important collaborations with other biotechnology companies around the world.
Larry Edward Penley
President and chancellor
Penley became the 13th president of Colorado State University and chancellor of the Colorado State System in August 2003. As the leader of Colorado State, he is committed to enhancing the university’s stature as one of the nation’s premier public research institutes. While at Colorado State, he has focused on enhancing the quality of undergraduate experience and recruiting top high school students. He launched a comprehensive strategic-planning effort that led to a university-wide reorganization and the creation of the Superclusters model. Penley came to Colorado State from Arizona State University, where he served as a professor of management and dean of the W.P. Carey School of Business.
Ron Sega
Vice president for Energy, the Environment and Applied Research, Colorado State University Research Foundation
As Under Secretary of the Air Force, Sega led a team responsible for $100 million in energy-related savings and cost avoidance in 2006, providing leadership on a comprehensive strategy for improving conservation and reducing energy use.
Sega’s team was honored by President Bush in November for promoting and improving federal energy management. The team won the overall Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management for such achievements as savings of 3.3 trillion Btu in fiscal year 2006 – enough for the annual household energy needs of a city the size of Boulder, Colo..
A former astronaut, Sega flew two missions into space on Space Shuttle Discovery in 1994 and as payload commander for the third shuttle/Mir docking mission aboard Atlantis in 1996.
Dr. Robert Ullrich
Chief research officer of NeoTREX
Director of research, Cancer Supercluster
Ullrich has studied cancer in an effort to understand its cause, and to find cures and preventative medicines since 1974, and has received 30 years of consecutive funding from the National Cancer Institute. As director of research in oncology for the university’s Animal Cancer Center, Ullrich currently oversees activities for 12 research laboratories within the university’s Animal Cancer Center and nearly $3 million in annual funding for cancer research and training from organizations such as the National Cancer Institute and NASA. He holds the Barbara Cox Anthony university chair in oncology. Colorado State University’s Animal Cancer Center is part of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Ullrich is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences. Research within the Animal Cancer Center encompasses basic cancer biology and the development of new approaches for cancer diagnosis and treatment. With extensive expertise in cancer biology, his research focuses on how tumors develop after exposure to radiation and the role of genetics in cancer.
Mark Wdowik
Chief executive officer of CSU Ventures
Colorado State University Research Foundation
Wdowik is the chief executive officer of CSU Ventures, a non-profit subsidiary of Colorado State University Research Foundation (CSURF) that will oversee the business side of the Superclusters structure. Wdowik first joined the university in July as the vice president for Technology Transfer for CSURF. Before coming to Colorado State, he was the executive director of the Office for Technology Transfer at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Prior to working in higher education, Wdowik successfully managed two technology-based businesses in Colorado, including a multi-million dollar advanced materials and optoelectronics company, Bandgap Technology Corp.
Bryan Willson
Chief Scientific Officer, Cenergy
Director, Clean Energy Supercluster
Dr. Bryan Willson is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University and is founder of the CSU Engines & Energy Conversion Laboratory. All three of his degrees are in Mechanical Engineering; a B.S. degree from Texas A & M University and M.S. and PhD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Willson received his PhD in 1988, the same year he joined the CSU faculty.
He has founded 4 major programs at CSU and is the Principal or Co-Principal Investigator on over $25 million in funded research. Dr. Willson serves as consultant and/or adviser to numerous US government agencies, international development and environmental agencies, industrial organizations, and private industries. In recent years, he has traveled for professional activities to 26 countries: India, China, Nepal, Benin (West Africa), Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.
Dr. Stephen Withrow
Chief scientific officer of NeoTREX
Director of the academic activities, Cancer Supercluster
Withrow is a surgical oncologist and director of the Animal Cancer Center. He holds the Stuart Chair in Oncology and is a University Distinguished Professor. The Animal Cancer Center at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital has almost 90 faculty and staff members involved in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pet animals in the areas of clinical services, teaching future veterinarians and veterinary oncology specialists, translational research and outreach and consultations. Spontaneously occurring cancer in pet animals is the basis of his research and collaborations with the National Cancer Institute and the Children's Oncology Group to develop new treatments. He was recently appointed director for the new Colorado State University academic Cancer Supercluster and chief scientific officer of NeoTREX, the enterprise arm of the Supercluster.