Management Team
Dr. James J. Koziarz
President and CEO
Dr. Koziarz became President and CEO of Rubicon in December 2008. Previously he had worked for 25 years in the Diagnostics Division of Abbott Laboratories, including 12 years as a corporate officer. He has managed groups involved in product development, manufacturing and customer technical support, and new technology management. He has been involved in the development and introduction of diagnostic products in infectious diseases, endocrinology, cardiology and oncology. He also served as General Manager of two Business Units in the Diagnostics Division.
John P. Langmore, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Langmore is a co-founder of Rubicon Genomics and currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Langmore is co-inventor of the core technology of Rubicon Genomics and is currently responsible for the development of commercial partnerships and academic collaborations, as well as reagent sales and licensing. Prior to forming Rubicon, Dr. Langmore was a Professor in the Department of Biology and Research Scientist in the Biophysics Research Division at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Langmore’s research was in biochemical and microscopy studies of DNA and DNA-protein complexes while at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, and at the University of Michigan. During his tenure as Chair of the Biophysics Research Division at the University of Michigan, he oversaw dramatic expansion of the physical space, faculty, and graduate program. He has served as a member of National Science Foundation, American Cancer Society, and NIH peer review panels, and has over 40 publications. Dr. Langmore received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Elizabeth Long, MA, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Long became CFO of Rubicon in December, 2009. Before coming to Rubicon, she had a long career in public accounting and academia. Betsy is a member of the ARCH Development investment team, which she joined as Chief Financial Officer in September 2004. She is a competent financial strategist, who played a key role in guiding several ARCH portfolio companies to valuation inflection points. Currently she is also Acting CFO of Wisdom Tools and Treasurer of NephRx Corporation and Actine—all ARCH portfolio companies. She earned her CPA and completed her M.A. degree in Accountancy from Western Michigan University.
Board of Directors
Dr. James J. Koziarz
Chairman
James J. Koziarz has recently retired from Abbott Laboratories after 25 years of service in the Diagnostics Division. He had been a corporate officer at Abbott for 12 years. He has managed groups involved in product development, manufacturing and customer technical support, and new technology management. He has been involved in the development and introduction of diagnostic products in infectious diseases, endocrinology, cardiology and oncology. He also served as General Manager of two Business Units in the Diagnostics Division.
Dr. Roger Newton
Sr. Vice President & Director, Esperion Therapeutics, a Division of Pfizer Global Research & Development
Roger Newton has worked for more than 27 years in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. He is currently founder, President & CEO, and a director of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to his current role, he was Senior Vice President, Pfizer Global R&D and Director, Esperion Therapeutics, a Pfizer, Inc. company. He was co-founder, President & CEO of the original Esperion founded in July 1998. Under Roger’s leadership and the team’s effort, Esperion was acquired by Pfizer for $1.3 billion in February 2004. Pfizer then divested Esperion in May 2008 and Roger restarted the company as an independent enterprise with $23 million in venture capital funding.
Prior to founding the original Esperion, Roger was with Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis (now Pfizer) from 1981-1998. As a Distinguished Scientist and Chairman of the Atherosclerosis Drug Discovery Team, he co-discovered and was the product champion of what is now the most prescribed cholesterol-reducing drug in the world, atorvastatin (Lipitor®).
Daniel J. Phelps
Partner, General Partner, Opus Capital
Dan Phelps is a General Partner of Opus Capital leading investments in both established services companies as well as early stage companies. Previously, Dan was a Partner and founding member of Duchossois Technology Partners (DTEC), an early stage venture capital firm, where he focused primarily on networking software and system investments. While at DTEC, Dan led investments in Infoblox, Intellon, Mobilitec (acquired by Lucent), NetNearU, NextHop and Personeta. Before joining DTEC, Dan was with the Pritzker Financial Office in Chicago, where his responsibilities focused on principal investments in a variety of industries.
Thomas L. Churchwell
Managing Partner, ARCH Development Partners, LLC
Tom was most recently President and CEO of ARCH Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the University of Chicago, which commercialized technology from the University and Argonne National Laboratory. He was previously President and CEO of Calgene Fresh, Inc., a 1992 start-up company which produced and marketed MacGregor’s FLAVR SAVR tomato, the world’s first biotech food product. Prior to joining Calgene Fresh, Tom was Vice President of ARCH Development Corporation. Before joining ARCH, he held several senior management positions at the NutraSweet Company, including Vice President, Sales and legal positions at G.D. Searle & Co., American Hospital Supply Corporation, and The Coca-Cola Export Corporation.