CFO Moves – week ending March 12, 2018

CFO Moves this week include:

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NASA [WASHINGTON] announced that Jeff DeWit will serve as agency’s Chief Financial Officer.

The Materials Science Division of DowDuPont [MIDLAND, Mich.] (NYSE: DWDP) announced that the Materials Advisory Committee of the DowDuPont Board of Directors, announced that Howard Ungerleider, Chief Financial Officer of DowDuPont, and Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer for The Dow Chemical Company, will serve as President and Chief Financial Officer of the intended Materials Science Company. Ungerleider joined Dow in 1990. Ungerleider was named Business Director for Dow’s global Wire and Cable Compounds business in 2000, and in 2004, he became the Global Director of Integrated Supply Chain for Plastics, Performance Chemicals and Thermosets. In 2006, he was appointed North American Commercial Vice President for Dow’s $6 billion Basic Plastics business portfolio. He was named President for Dow’s Performance Plastics Division in 2011. In 2012, he was named Executive Vice President of Dow’s Advanced Materials Division and joined Dow’s senior-most executive team. He was elected as CFO by Dow’s Board of Directors in 2014 and was named Vice Chairman in 2015. He was appointed CFO of DowDuPont in May 2016 effective upon the close of the merger transaction between Dow and DuPont, which occurred on August 31, 2017.

David Sisk

Inocucor [DENVER] has hired David Sisk as Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration & Chief Financial Officer. David’s previous experience includes leadership roles in global organizations such as Armacell, Platform Specialty Products Corporation and Cheminova A/S.

Redwood Capital Bank [EUREKA, Calif.] announced the appointment of Renee Byers, VP/Controller to VP/Interim Chief Financial Officer, replacing Fred J. Moore, III who recently resigned from the company. Renee Byers has 25 years of banking experience, including the areas of Customer Service, Back Office Support, Human Resources and Controller.

Universal Resources [WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.] announced that Mikael Lundgren was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Director. Mr. Lundgren has served as the Chief Operating Officer of Broadside since June 11, 2017 and serves on the advisory board of Royal Deals LLC in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Before joining Broadside, Mr. Lundgren was Head of Legal Affairs for the PNYG Group.

Dyadic International, Inc. [JUPITER, Fl.] (OTCQX: DYAI) announced that Chief Financial Officer Thomas L. Dubinski will be on a medical leave of absence. In Mr. Dubinski’s absence, other executive officers will assume many of Mr. Dubinski’s duties while remaining in their current positions. Ping W. Rawson, the Company’s Director of Financial Reporting since June 2016, was promoted to Chief Accounting Officer on March 14, 2018 and will serve as the Company’s principal financial officer and assume responsibility for finance, tax and treasury.

Shai Lankry

Gamida Cell [CAMBRIDGE, Mass.] announced the appointment of Shai Lankry as chief financial officer (CFO). He succeeds Naftali Brikashvili, who will step into the role of vice president, finance and operations at Gamida Cell. Prior to joining Gamida Cell, Mr. Lankry served as a finance director at West Pharmaceutical Services. Previously, he served as CFO and Israeli site manager at Macrocure Ltd. Before joining Macrocure, Mr. Lankry was the finance director at Omrix Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lankry was a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in Tel Aviv.

Image Sensing Systems, Inc. [ST. PAUL, Minn.] (NASDAQ: ISNS) announced that Richard Ehrich has resigned as its Chief Financial Officer. The Board of Directors has appointed Todd Slawson as Interim Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Slawson has most recently served as Director of Finance and Corporate Controller at ISS. Prior to joining the ISS team, he held various positions at KPMG LLP.

Novavax, Inc. [GAITHERSBURG, Md.] (NASDAQ: NVAX) announced the promotion of John J. Trizzino to Senior Vice President, Chief Business Officer (CBO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr. Trizzino has been serving as Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, since 2014. Mr. Trizzino originally joined Novavax in 2009. Previously, he was CEO of Immunovaccine Inc. Prior to his tenures at Novavax and Immunovaccine, Mr. Trizzino had leadership responsibilities at MedImmune, LLC, ID Biomedical and Henry Schein, Inc.

Onapsis [Boston, MA] announced that Gordon Pothier has joined the team as Chief Financial Officer. Pothier is joining Onapsis from Carbon Black. where he recently held the position of Vice President of Finance and Operations, with the prior role of CFO, of Bit9. Pothier joined Bit9 in 2008.

Surge Holdings, Inc. [Las Vegas] (OTCQB: SURG) announced the appointment of Brian Speck as Chief Financial Officer.

Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. [SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.] (NASDAQ: FPRX) announced that Marc Belsky, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has resigned to pursue another opportunity.

Turning Point Brands, Inc. [LOUISVILLE, Ky.] (NYSE: TPB) announced that Robert Lavan has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Lavan will succeed the Company’s previous CFO, Mark A. Stegeman, who has resigned from his positions as Senior Vice President and CFO. In 2017, Mr. Lavan served as Chief Financial Officer of General Wireless Operations, Inc. Before that, Mr. Lavan worked at Standard General LP, The Blackstone Group, SAC Capital and J. Goldman & Co. LP in various analyst and portfolio manager roles.

Judy C. Gavant

Bay Banks of Virginia, Inc. [RICHMOND, Va.] (OTCQB: BAYK) announced that Judy C. Gavant will join the Company and VCB as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Gavant takes over the Chief Financial Officer position from James A. Wilson, Jr., who retired after nearly 30 years at VCB. Ms. Gavant most recently served as Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of Xenith Bankshares, Inc. Prior to joining Xenith in 2010, Ms. Gavant held a variety of positions with Owens & Minor, Inc., Tredegar Corporation and Dominion Energy, Inc., as well as being one of the initial leaders of a start-up technology company. Ms. Gavant began her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where she served in the firm’s audit and tax practices.

ArbiterSports [SANDY, Utah] announced the addition of John Hopkins as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO). Hopkins served most recently as CFO of Zions Bancorporation’s Net Deposit Unit and also as an Owner-Operator of two successful McDonald’s restaurant franchises.

Sight Sciences, Inc. [MENLO PARK, Calif.] announced the appointment of Jesse Selnick as Chief Financial Officer. Selnick most recently served as Chief Financial Officer and on the Board of Directors of Electric Lightwave. Since 2011, Selnick has served as a General Partner of Sight Sciences Angels, LP. Earlier in his career, Selnick served as a Managing Director at The Blackstone Group for approximately 10 years in its mergers and acquisitions advisory practice.

ORock® Technologies, Inc. [RESTON, Va.] announced that Dale Stucke has joined its executive leadership team in the role of Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Dale served as CFO for IT services company Constellation West. Previously, Stucke was VP Finance of USIS Corporation. He also served as VP, Finance and Corporate Controller of GTSI Corporation. Prior positions include internal audit, finance, and operations roles with Unisys Corporation, BearingPoint, Inc., General Dynamics, and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Raj Mehra

The Freedom Bank of Virginia [FAIRFAX, Va.] (OTCQX: FDVA) announced that the board of directors has appointed Raj Mehra as executive vice president, chief financial officer. For many years Mehra was CFO of Middleburg Financial Corp. Previously, he served as director of financial risk management at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and held positions at JP Morgan Chase and Credit Suisse.

Methode Electronics, Inc. [CHICAGO] (NYSE: MEI) announced Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hrudicka has left the Company to pursue other opportunities. Ronald Tsoumas, currently Methode’s controller and treasurer, has been promoted to succeed Hrudicka as CFO. Tsoumas, a 34-year veteran of the Company, most recently served as the Company’s corporate controller and treasurer since July 2007.

OnDeck [NEW YORK] (NYSE: ONDK) announced that the Company will appoint Kenneth (Ken) A. Brause as its Chief Financial Officer replacing current Chief Financial Officer, Howard Katzenberg. Most recently, Brause served as Executive Vice President and Treasurer of CIT Group and CIT Bank. Prior to becoming Treasurer, Brause was Chief Financial Officer for CIT’s North America Banking group. Brause previously served as the President of CIT’s Small Business Lending group. Earlier in his career, Brause was the Investor Relations Officer for The Bank of New York and American General Corporation, and served as the Vice President of Strategy & Development at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. After beginning his career at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Brause spent 13 years at Bankers Trust in various financial roles, including head of Investor & Media Relations and as a Principal in Debt Capital Markets.

ConversionPoint Technologies Inc. [IRVINE, Calif.] has appointed Raghu Kilambi as its new Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer. Kilambi succeeds Jack Thomsen, who will continue as treasurer of ConversionPoint and COO of its consumer direct marketing unit, Branded Response. Previously, Raghu was the Co-Founder, CFO and Chief Strategy Officer of a leading VC-backed ASP. He has also been an investor in portfolio companies that were eventually acquired by Yahoo, eBay and CGI.

Thomas F. Cowhey

Surgery Partners, Inc. [NASHVILLE, Tenn.] (NASDAQ: SGRY) announced that Thomas F. Cowhey has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective April 2, 2018. Cowhey has more than 20 years of experience in a range of financial and strategic roles in the healthcare services sector, most recently having served as Chief Financial Officer of the Institution Business portfolio at Aetna, Inc.

PDC Brands [STAMFORD, Conn.] announced that John F. Owen has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of PDC. He replaces Jay Rogers, who will transition from CFO/COO at PDC to a dedicated COO role. Prior to joining PDC, Mr. Owen most recently served as CFO of Beam Suntory. Prior to this role, he served as SVP, Chief Supply Chain officer of Beam Suntory for over two years. Before joining Beam Suntory, Mr. Owen spent the majority of his career at Avon Products Inc., where he served in a variety of U.S. and overseas roles, including CFO of North America, Group VP of Global Finance, and President of the EMEA regions.

Sasser Family Holdings, Inc. [SCHAUMBURG, Ill.] announced that it has named Susan Buchanan senior vice president and CFO. Buchanan began her finance leadership career in 1987 as a senior financial analyst for Navistar Financial Corporation and spent 11 years at Duchossois Industries, Inc. in a variety of financial roles. Prior to joining Sasser, Buchanan was vice president, CFO and treasurer for Carus Group, Inc. Buchanan was a key member of the executive management team. Previously, Buchanan was vice president, Finance and Business Operations, for Nalco Company.

Star Jets International, Inc. [NEW YORK] (OTC PINK: JETR) announced that Robert Sheybani has agreed to join the Company as its Chief Financial Officer. With over 30 years of experience in finance and accounting, including working  for Societe Generale and Merrill Lynch, Mr. Sheybani brings an enormous amount of talent to JETR.

Melanie Pereira

Eyeview [NEW YORK] announced the appointment of Melanie Pereira as Chief Financial Officer. Pereira was most recently head of Finance at SiteCompli. Previously, she was Vice President Finance, Divisional CFO at AOL Brands. Prior to AOL, she led finance groups within Patch, Daily Beast, MTV and NBCUniversal.

DiscoverReady® [CHARLOTTE, N.C.] announced that Todd Tennell has joined the company as chief financial officer. Prior to joining DiscoverReady, Tennell served as CFO at Morae Global Corporation. He previously led and was responsible for finance operations and human resources at Huron Legal, a division of Huron Consulting Group.

Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. [CAMBRIDGE, Mass.] (NASDAQ: MRSN) announced that David A. Spellman has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer. Spellman joins Mersana from Vertex where he has spent the past 12 years in roles of increasing responsibility across all aspects of their finance function. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Corporate, Commercial and International Finance. Spellman also served in various financial management positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

Syros Pharmaceuticals [CAMBRIDGE, Mass.] (NASDAQ: SYRS) announced the appointment of Joseph J. Ferra as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. Ferra most recently served as Managing Director and Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at JMP Securities. Prior to JMP, he was a member of the investment banking groups at UBS and JP Morgan.

Gerald Herman

Bruker [BILLERICA, Mass.] announced that it has appointed Gerald N. Herman to serve as the Company’s Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mr. Herman was recently also appointed as Bruker’s Principal Accounting Officer (PAO), and he will assume his additional responsibilities as Interim CFO upon the departure of current CFO Anthony L. Mattacchione, whose resignation was announced in February 2018. Herman joined the Company in 2016 as Vice President and Corporate Controller.  Prior to joining Bruker, Mr. Herman had served in senior executive positions with various publicly traded companies, including as Corporate Vice President – Clinical Operations of PAREXEL International from 2014 to February 2016, and as Corporate Vice President & Controller-Finance of PAREXEL from 2008 to 2013.  Prior to 2008, Mr. Herman was Vice President – Corporate Controller of Presstek, Inc.  He also served in financial, consulting and accounting roles at various organizations, including as Senior Manager at Arthur Andersen LLP from 1979 to 1987.

Mindseeker, Inc. [ASHBURN, Va.] announced that it has named Andy Zeweri as the company’s new CFO.

MoxiWorks [SEATTLE] welcomed Jim Tarte as CFO. Tarte previously worked as companies including Scout Media, Prepared Response, X10 Wireless, CFO Selections and Moss Adams.

Assembly Biosciences, Inc.  [INDIANAPOLIS] (NASDAQ: ASMB) announced the appointment of Graham Cooper as its new chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer (COO). Cooper will be assuming the roles previously held by David Barrett, one of Assembly’s co-founders. Barrett will continue as a strategic advisor to Assembly. Cooper served most recently as chief financial officer of Receptos. Previously, Cooper had similar roles at Geron and Orexigen Therapeutics. He worked in investment banking and public accounting earlier in his career.

Guy E. Abramovitz

WebLinc [PHILADELPHIA] announced that Guy E. Abramovitz has joined the company as its Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Abramovitz served as Vice President of Finance and Accounting at Veterinary Practice Partners.

Operative [NEW YORK] announced that the company has hired Andrew Lazarus as Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Operative, Lazarus was the Finance Director at BAE Systems – Applied Intelligence. Previously, Lazarus served as the CFO at Silver Sky and Genesys.