Bioenergy company Solazyme forms strategic advisory board

19 October 2009

Renewable oil company Solazyme Inc has formed its strategic advisory board, comprising R James Woolsey, TJ Glauthier and Dr Donald Kennedy. The board will advise and guide the company on public policy and strategic business decisions, the company said.

Woolsey served previously as the Director of Central Intelligence and the Under-Secretary of the Navy. He is currently a venture partner and senior advisor at VantagePoint Venture Partners, and is the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is also chairman of the advisory board of the Clean Fuels Foundation, and also serves on the National Commission on Energy Policy.

‘Having looked at many technology solutions in the renewable fuels arena, I strongly believe that Solazyme is a definite leader. The company’s technology will help to decrease our dependence on oil and put us on a much more sustainable basis with a wide range of products,’ said Woolsey. ‘I am honored to serve as chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board and to help Solazyme expand its capacity to deliver clean, efficient and renewable fuels and other products for the future.’

In this role, Woolsey will lead a board of experts, including Glauthier, Kennedy and additional future members, who will help drive Solazyme’s leading role in the nation’s charge to expand clean renewable energy solutions and enhanced energy security while also guiding the company’s expansion into foods and chemicals.

Glauthier is an advisor and corporate board member in the energy and cleantech sector. Previously, he was the Deputy Secretary and COO of the US Department of Energy (DoE) from 1999 to 2001. Prior to that, he served in the White House for five years as the Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the Office of Management and Budget. He worked closely with President Clinton and Vice President Gore in their administration and was a member of President Obama’s economic transition team.

Dr. Kennedy is the President Emeritus of Stanford University, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the former editor-in-chief of Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

‘Solazyme is honored to have such distinguished leaders on our Strategic Advisory Board. Jim Woolsey, TJ Glauthier and Don Kennedy bring years of expertise and leadership at the federal level, in the private sector and in the scientific community, as well as a deep understanding of renewable energy and the importance of national energy security,’ said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO of Solazyme. ‘We expect this board to further the company’s efforts to commercialize our renewable oil and bioproducts technology, which will play a meaningful role in the preservation of our planet, securing our energy independence, and growing our economy.’

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in South San Francisco, Solazyme’s technology converts algae to produce oil and biomaterials in standard fermentation facilities. Solazyme’s investors among others include Braemar Energy Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Roda Group, and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

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Tags: algae, bioenergy, biofuel

This story was published on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 5:10 pm and is filed under North America, biomass/biofuel, companies. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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