Mr. Van Ness has been Chairman since July 2011, President and CEO since December 2010, and a director since June 2010. Prior to joining the Company, in the past decade he had focused as a merchant mortgage banker and investor. Currently he is managing director of Greenwood Hudson Portfolio LLC and was managing director of Technology Capital Services LLC until April 2011. These companies are comprised of investments in over 20 public companies. In addition to these companies, Mr. Van Ness has been a managing director of Hudson Pointe LLC, Debuel Development LLC, Grande Villas LLC and Grande Estates LLC since 2006, and Greenwood Management since 1997. During the past 25 years he has held various C-level positions (positions at the highest level of management), including as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Managing Director, in both domestic and international public and private companies, including, without limitation, as Chief Operating Officer of International Division of Royal Resorts, Managing Director of Buena Vista Hospitality, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of International Resort Services, Managing Director of Medallion Mortgage and Financial Services, Managing Director Bankers Financial, and Chief Marketing Officer of Lasergate Systems. His responsibilities combined senior management positions with profitability, marketing, operations, staff and investor relations oversight. Throughout his career he has participated in equity and debt transactions in excess of $500M. In addition, Mr. Van Ness provided consulting services to real estate investors with complex financial challenges. Mr. Van Ness received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida in 1973.
Mr. Libby has over 35 years of professional experience in managing financial and operational aspects of private companies, public agencies and publicly traded companies. His direct experience includes strategic planning for companies involved in the research, manufacture and distribution of nutraceutical and healthcare products. Mr. Libby previously served as Director of Finance & Accounting of the 400 doctor medical faculty practice at USF College of Medicine, where he was directly involved with the financial aspects of 200 pharmaceutical grants. Additionally, he was responsible for all accounting, tax, insurance, audit, banking and investing activities. Prior experience includes practicing as a CPA, serving at the executive level in local government and serving on the accounting faculty of the Business University of Tampa. Mr. Libby received an MBA and Post-Graduate Certificate in Accounting from the University of Tampa and BA degrees in both Accounting and Management from the University of South Florida. He is a Certified Public Accountant in Florida and a member of the American and Florida Institutes of CPA's. He is also a Certified Internal Auditor.
Dr. Pourhassan became the Company's Managing Director of Business Development in June 2011. Prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer from May 2008 to June 2011. Born in Tehran, Iran in 1963, Dr. Pourhassan immigrated to the United States in 1977 and became a U.S. citizen in 1991. He received his Bachelor of Science from Utah State University in 1985, his Masters of Science from Brigham Young University in 1990 and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah in 1998. Prior to joining the Company from 2006 to 2008, Dr. Pourhassan was an instructor of Mechanical Engineering at The Center for Advanced Learning in Oregon, and from 2005 to 2006 was an instructor at Mount Hood Community College. Over the past twenty years, Dr. Pourhassan has also managed a family-owned export/import and manufacturing businesses.
Dr. Richard Trauger received his PhD from the University Of South Carolina School Of Medicine in 1986 in biomedical science, specializing in retrovirology. He was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute to study the origins of retroviruses and their interaction with the central nervous system in the respective laboratories of Dr. John Elder and Dr. Michael Wilson. Dr. Trauger left Scripps in 1989 to work with Dr. Jonas Salk at The Immune Response Corporation (IRC), a newly formed company developing a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of HIV. While at IRC he was head of the immunology research group responsible for the design, validation and implementation of assays for assessing humoral and cellular immunity in patients enrolled in HIV and Cancer clinical trials. In 2001 Dr. Trauger left IRC to become the Director of Cancer and Infectious Disease at Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, where he oversaw the company's research for its proprietary hormones for the treatment of HIV and cancer. Dr. Trauger has also worked extensively in business development and has traveled world-wide to assist in partnering discussions. He has also developed patient/physician outreach programs and presented at Grand Rounds in hospital settings and community meetings sponsored by activists to assist in the enrolment of clinical trials. He also has extensive experience identify and developing relationships with key opinion leaders in the HIV and cancer immunotherapy fields. Dr. Trauger joined CytoDyn in January, 2011.
