Seed Business 101^SM - Instructors

Critical to the success of Seed Business 101 is the expertise of our core faculty. Our three distinguished instructors bring over 110 years of seed industry management experience to the creation and teaching of this specialized course. They have all served as highly respected international executives in the seed industry. The combined seed industry experience of our instructors covers all the five functional areas that will be taught. We will also bring in other industry experts as guest speakers.

SB101^SM Horticulture

Maurice Smith’s career in vegetable seeds spans more than 32 years. Before becoming an independent consultant in 2009, he was President and COO of Harris Moran Seed Company. During extensive working periods in the UK, France, Netherlands and the USA, Maurice has held senior Sales, Marketing and Corporate Management positions at Tézier, Petoseed, Seminis, Nickerson-Zwaan and Harris Moran. With a broad international experience, he has managed seed companies and subsidiaries in over 20 countries worldwide.

Pieter Vandenberg began his 40 year career in genetic research and plant breeding and concluded his career in the seed industry as the Vice President of Technical Resources/Worldwide Product Complaints for Seminis. He had previously served in senior executive positions with Sunseeds as Vice President of Quality Assurance and General Manager of Nickerson-Zwaan USA. His expertise includes plant breeding and research, company administration, quality assurance and product complaint resolution.

Gary Whiteaker has 38 years of experience in the vegetable and flower seed industries. Before joining Verdant Partners in 2009, he worked for Sakata Seed America, Inc. as Director of Quality Assurance and Intellectual Property Rights. Previously, Gary was President of Nunhems Seed Corporation in Lewisville, Idaho, and held senior management positions for Arco Seed Company and at Alf Christianson Seed Company. Gary’s professional expertise includes plant breeding, quality assurance, intellectual property rights, production and operations.

SB101^SM Field Crops

Rale Gjuric, SBC Education Director, is also the President of
HAPLOTECH Inc., a company specialized in technical services and consulting in plant breeding. Dr. Gjuric received his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba, Canada; his M.Sc. from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia; and his B.Sc. from the University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia. Previously, he held the positions of Breeding Manager of DL Seeds; Research and Managing Director of DSV Canada; all in Winnipeg Canada. Dr. Gjuric is an accomplished plant breeder with over 35 canola varieties and hybrids released in the last 15 years. His current focus is in service to the plant breeding industry with special interest in organization and optimization of plant breeding programs.

Dr. Tom Francis has over 30 years of experience in the seed business.
Dr. Francis began his career with Agriculture Canada as a Resear ch Scientist after obtaining his PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Guelph. He joined Northrup King in 1980 as Research Director and held various roles within that company including General Manager for the Canadian division and Vice President of Research for the U.S.  With the formation of Novartis, later Syngenta, Dr. Francis had various roles of increasing responsibility including Global Head of Product Evaluation and Assessment. Dr. Francis has been an active member of the Canadian and American seed industry and served as President for CSTA and Vice President for ASTA. Though retired from Syngenta, he continues to consult to the industry and maintains a special interest in attracting and developing new talent within the seed industry.

Dave Westphal is an accomplished executive possessing more than
41 years of diverse management experience in worldwide agribusiness
for Cargill Inc. and Monsanto. Dave has held positions as COO, Holden’s Foundation Seeds LLC and Corn States Business Services and Hawaiian Research for Monsanto, Area Co-Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Vice Chairman Sansako Seeds, Managing Director Carnia Seeds and Vice President for Cargill Inc. in various Seed Product Line responsibilities (Cargill Hybrid Seeds/ Paymaster Seeds/ PAG SEEDS/ Bounty Hybrid Wheat) and Grain Origination, Crop Protection and Fertilizer Distribution businesses both domestic and international. Founder and CEO of D3 Consulting, LLC and joining CONTEXT, he is currently engaged in consulting activities with foundations and alliances in Africa working with start-up seed businesses.

Seed Business 101^SM - Organizers

Rale Gjuric, SBC Education Director, is also the President of HAPLOTECH Inc., a company specialized in technical services and consulting in plant breeding. Dr. Gjuric received his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba, Canada; his M.Sc. from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia; and his B.Sc. from the University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia. Previously, he held the positions of Breeding Manager of DL Seeds; Research and Managing Director of DSV Canada; all in Winnipeg Canada. Dr. Gjuric is an accomplished plant breeder with over 35 canola varieties and hybrids released in the last 15 years. His current focus is in service to the plant breeding industry
with special interest in organization and optimization of plant breeding programs.

Francois Korn, a native of France, has over 30 years experience in the seed industry. After beginning his career in the fertilizer industry in Germany, he moved to the United States and focused his efforts on handling international sales for Harris Moran. In 1992, he created SeedQuest, a company devoted to improving access to information for seed professionals worldwide, and to providing web strategy and e-business guidance to seed industry members. Francois is also a member of the Seed Biotechnology Center's Advisory Council.

Jeannette Martins works as a Program Representative for the Seed Biotechnology Center (SBC) and is the course contact for Seed Business 101. A native of Germany, within the SBC Jeannette is responsible for organizing educational programs and courses and for developing outreach materials. She particularly enjoys working on science-based projects that focus on biotechnology for sustainability.