Executives in Residence
Discovery Launchpad’s Executives in Residence (EIR’s) lend their specialized knowledge and expertise to University startups on a temporary, part time basis. EIR’s engage directly with University of Minnesota start-ups to provide support as they develop their value proposition and business model.
Executives in Residence are generally recruited from the Venture Center’s volunteer Business Advisory Group (BAG), based upon the experience and background needed to support the University’s start-up community.
Discovery Launchpad Executives in Residence
Ann B. Schulte, CFA
Executive in Residence
Ann has over 20 years of experience in developing and implementing corporate, product, and commercial strategies and leading growth initiatives. She is adept at evaluating new business opportunities, monitoring industry trends, and optimizing investment for long-term revenue growth. She has received recognition for mentoring from both the MN Cup and the Medical Industry Leadership Institute. Ann also teaches the Value Proposition Design workshops for MIN-Corps.
Ann’s initial foray into life sciences and healthcare services was as an institutional equity investment analyst. She holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a BS in Accounting from the University at Buffalo (SUNY), as well as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Adam J. Bock
Executive in Residence
Adam is an award-winning academic, venture financier, and serial entrepreneur. He has co-founded four university spinouts in the life sciences, serving as CEO or CFO. He has been a contract CXO, adviser, or founder-mentor for dozens of other tech ventures. Adam leads executive education programs on strategy and innovation for local, regional, and multinational organizations. He holds a PhD from Imperial College London, an MBA from University of Wisconsin, and a BS and BA from Stanford University.
Martha R. Sewall
Executive in Residence
Martha’s 25 years in medtech product development and global business management have encompassed a range of clinical care areas and therapies with extensive experience in the development of new medical technologies.
Martha also teaches the Value Proposition workshops for MIN-Corps, and now for the new NSF I-Corps Hub: Great Lakes Region, and assesses projects for PDIC (Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium).
Martha holds an MBA from the UMN and a BS in Zoology from Duke University.
Joel Cannon
Founding Executive in Residence
Joel has 30+ years’ experience as a company founder and leader in software, communications and control and energy technology, having co-founded and grown two notable companies over his career and participated in numerous angel investment, business advisory and board roles.
Joel holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a BS from South Dakota State University.
Read Joel’s thoughts on energy, business, and other topics on his blog
Charles Dennis
Executive in Residence
Chuck has over 35 years of experience in technology assessments, intellectual property, licensing, mergers, acquisitions, partnering, and R&D. His work has ranged from providing intellectual property (IP) legal services for jet engines and computer tapes to managing internal and external R&D projects, and negotiating acquisitions, spin-outs and licenses for data storage and medical devices.
Chuck holds a JD from Northwestern University and a BA in Physics from Carleton College.
Rebecca Mehrwerth
Executive in Residence
Rebecca Mehrwerth is a commercial leader with more than 20 years of experience building commercial teams and leading product launches in the small, start-up biotech space. Her expertise in developing commercialization strategies for early stage companies has resulted in significant value growth. She has held leadership roles at GSK, TESARO, Celgene.
Rebecca is the current SVP, Head of Commercial for Epizyme, Inc a Boston biotech, and holds a BBA in Finance from Texas State University.
Himanshu Laiker
Executive In Residence
Himanshu is a seasoned healthcare/ medical device leader with over 25 years in new technology launches, market development across the U.S & International markets. Renowned for dynamic leadership in business planning & development, he has driven high-impact initiatives, forged key partnerships, and led multinational teams to success.
A respected advisor and mentor - recognized as one of MN Cup’s 2024 Carlson School Mentors of the Year. Himanshu currently serves on various Healthcare, Technology etc. Advisory Boards from startups, Non Profits across globe helping in market & growth expansion.
Himanshu holds a great MBA in Finance/Strategy and a BS in Finance from UMN Carlson School of Management.
Kyle King
CFO in Residence
Kyle has over 20 years of financial and management experience across numerous industries. He started his career as a CPA for RSM McGladrey and then moved into CFO roles with high growth technology organizations.
From there, Kyle has been involved as an advisor and CFO of numerous startups in the energy, consumer electronics, and medical sectors with a focus on business development, financing and capital raise/structure.
Kyle holds a BS in Accounting from UMN Duluth.
Frances McCloskey
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in Residence
Fran has over 35 years of experience in finance and accounting involving many industries including consumer products, financial services, medical technology, pharmaceuticals, software, and manufacturing. She provides a technical background in preparing financial models, valuations, and assessing and improving financial performance of organizations. Prior to forming two consulting firms, Fran practiced at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and was a financial analyst at General Mills. Fran is also a licensed CPA and a member of the AICPA and MNCPA.
Fran has an MBA from the UMN and a BA in Economics from Middlebury College.
Marie Kuker
Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO) in Residence
Marie Kuker, RPh, RAC, FRAPS, president, Kuker Regulatory Consulting, LLC., has more than 35 years of regulatory affairs and product development experience in the pharmaceutical industry in a wide variety of therapeutic areas including innovative medical technologies, orphan drugs and drug-device combination products.
Marie is founder and president of a consulting firm specializing in biopharmaceutical regulatory affairs. Marie’s experience includes leadership roles in global regulatory affairs for 3M Pharmaceuticals and Drug Delivery Systems and Orphan Medical. A pharmacist and alumni of the UMN, she is an appointed Fellow of the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Center for Orphan Drug Research of the UMN College of Pharmacy’s Department of Experimental and Clinical Therapeutics.
Ginny Kirby
Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO)
Ginny Kirby has extensive leadership experience across all phases of the commercialization process for a wide range of products and therapies in the medical device industry. She has served on global senior management teams for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to early-stage startups. Throughout her career, Ginny has focused on developing and implementing strategies to establish clinical value and to drive regulatory approvals, reimbursement and market adoption of new therapies and technologies.
Ginny is currently Vice President of Global Regulatory and Clinical Affairs for xDot Medical Inc, an early-stage company in the medical device industry. She is also currently a strategy consultant to CEOs and senior executives in the medical device and diagnostics startup space, with a focus on FDA regulatory process, clinical research requirements, and commercialization strategy. Ginny also serves as an independent board member for Nyxoah, S.A. (Nasdaq:NYXH), a Belgian-based publicly-held medical device company and as a board member for Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, a leading non-profit research and education organization. Ginny holds a BS in Communication Disorders and an MS in Management of Technology from the University of Minnesota as well as an MS in Hearing and Speech Sciences from Purdue University.
Dan Wallek
Chief Operations Officer (COO) in Residence
Dan Wallek is results-driven operations senior executive with demonstrated abilities building operational excellence for growth over 30 years, managing new products from conception to launch to retirement in domestic and international markets; creating and implementing an organizational foundation of functional disciplines, policies and operational business procedures to scale and ensure growth and stability of a company while maximizing their business value. He has purchase four (4) companies and sold three (3) companies in his career. Dan was the COO at FastBridge Learning, who was a company launched out of the University of Minnesota’s Office of Technology Commercialization, where he led the operations execution plan which resulted in the company being sold.
He has experience in multiple industries in his experience including SaaS, professional learning, manufacturing, publishing, services, supply chain, executive coaching, and information technology. Dan currently is the Founder & Fractional COO at ExcelerateOPS, LLC.
Dan holds a BS in Marketing from University of Saint Mary’s Minnesota and an MBA from Drake University.
Maureen Kelly Wheaton
Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) in Residence
Maureen has over 35 years of experience with strong multifunction business experience in start-up and transformation environments. She is skilled in all disciplines of human resources and has a keen understanding of what business managers need from HR. She provides pragmatic, results-focused HR support, leveraging her experience to develop and document processes and coach leadership teams to sustain progress.
Maureen holds an MBA from University of Minnesota and a BA in Economics & Business Administration from the College of Saint Benedict.
Garrick van Buren
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in Residence
Garrick has 25 years of experience getting new B2B businesses off the ground. He’s worked with entrepreneurs and corporation innovation teams across software, professional services, publishing, agriculture, and food service. He grounds his approach in qualitative customer research and outcome-driven innovation. His work has been featured in eight books on marketing and digital product design, most recently Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan. Garrick lives in suburban Minneapolis, MN with his wife and four children.
Garrick holds a BFA in Graphic Design from UW-Stout.
Lori Lennon
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (CMCO) in Residence
Lori Lennon is a communications expert with over 20 years of experience spanning journalism, strategic communications, public relations, digital marketing, and science storytelling. She began her career in television news in Boston, where she earned multiple awards for innovative digital reporting. Lori later served as director of communications for the College of Science at Northeastern University, leading efforts across messaging, recruitment marketing, editorial content, and DEI initiatives. She is now the founder and CEO of Thinkubator Media, a firm that delivers training, education, and community-building programs to help individuals and organizations communicate complex ideas with clarity and impact.