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SG Biofuels Expands Operations with Addition of Mathur, Davids to Executive Team
Setting the stage for a significant expansion of operations, SG Biofuels, an agricultural biotechnology company specializing in the development of Jatropha as a low-cost, sustainable source of oil, today announced the appointments of 30-year industry veteran Eric Mathur as Vice President, Molecular Agronomics & Scientific Affairs and Jeff (J.D.) Davids as Chief Financial Officer.
Mathur will direct an expansion of SG Biofuels’ research operations in San Diego and throughout the world, and will drive the company’s continued commercialization of Jatropha as a renewable energy crop. Davids will be responsible for all elements of accounting and financing for the company.
“Mathur has established himself as one of the most recognized and influential authorities in environmental genomics and applied biotechnology; we are privileged to add him to our team,” said Kirk Haney, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The addition of Mathur and Davids allow us to significantly expand and advance our efforts to commercialize Jatropha as a global renewable energy crop.”
Mathur previously served as Vice President, Agricultural Solutions at Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI), where he was responsible for the creation of SGI’s first laboratory in La Jolla, Calif. He assembled and managed the plant biotechnology, environmental microbiology, and bioinformatics research teams.
Prior to SGI, he spent twelve years as a founding scientist at Diversa Corporation (now Verenium Corporation; NASDAQ: VRNM), most recently serving as Vice President of Scientific Affairs. At Diversa, he was responsible for scientific management of Syngenta and DOW Chemical Corporation collaborations and had oversight of Diversa’s Biodiversity Access Program involving relationships with more than 15 countries and 25 institutions. He is named inventor on 52 patents, has over 100 patent applications pending worldwide and has published extensively. Mathur sits on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the DOE Joint Genome Institute, UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, the Monterrey Biotechnology Institute and the Thermal Biology Institute at Montana State University. He earned his Bachelor of Sciences degree from the University of California, Riverside in 1977.
Davids has over 20 years of leadership roles in accounting, finance, operations, strategic planning and business development. SG Biofuels is the eighth rapid growth company that Davids has worked with. Three of those companies had successful IPOs, one was acquired, and three continue to grow. He has participated in over $1 billion in completed M&A, IPO and venture capital financing transactions. Most recently, he worked for Chromatin, a company that licenses its gene stacking technology to Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience and Dow AgroSciences. He also served on the management teams of VMix Media, Daycom Systems, Organic Online, Accrue Software, Deal Management Systems, and DH Technology. He graduated Cum Laude with University Honors from The Ohio State University and served four years active duty in the United States Marine Corps.
Through the JMax Jatropha Optimization Platform, SG Biofuels provides research agencies and plantation developers access to the highest yielding and most profitable Jatropha in the world, the sequenced genome and advanced genomics platform to develop elite Jatropha cultivars specifically designed for their unique growing conditions.
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