Glenn M. Fischer
Glenn M. Fischer is a highly accomplished businessman with extensive finance, strategy and executive management experience in the industrial sector as well as in private equity investing. He was an Operating Partner at private equity firm AEA Investors LP from 2005 to 2013, where he focused on evaluating potential acquisitions and working with portfolio companies to drive growth, improve operational performance and maximize overall value creation. Mr. Fischer served on the board of directors of eight AEA companies, and stepped in to serve as the interim Chief Executive Officer for four different portfolio companies, for periods ranging from six months to one year.
Before joining AEA, Mr. Fischer was President and Chief Operating Officer of Airgas, Inc. from 2000 to 2005. Airgas was the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases, welding equipment and related products, with over 1000 locations and revenues in excess of $5 billion at the time of its acquisition by L’Air Liquide in May 2016. Prior to joining Airgas, Mr. Fischer spent 19 years with The BOC Group (Linde Industrial Gases) in a wide range of general management positions leading up to his appointment as President of BOC Gases, North America.
In addition to his responsibility for the overall North American business, Mr. Fischer served on The BOC Group Global Executive Management board, and led the business development of one of BOC’s key global market sectors. Prior to joining BOC in 1981, Mr. Fischer worked at W.R. Grace in a variety of finance, planning and management roles. He also served on the Board and Executive Committee of the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) for several years, and was Chairman of the Association in 2004.
Currently, Mr. Fischer is on the Executive Committee of American Securities, a major private equity firm based in New York, serves on the board of two PE-backed portfolio companies, and is an advisor to an engineering/technology firm, focused on building and operating “energy from waste” plants around the world.
Charles Muscoplat
Charles "Chuck" Muscoplat is a gifted scientist—businessman who has scaled remarkable heights both in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry as well as in world-class and multi-disciplinary academic endeavors. Perhaps most striking, he has over many years successfully realized the connection of technology to commercial applications.
Chuck was closely involved in the founding of Molecular Genetics, Inc. (later renamed MGI Pharma), one of the first five biotechnology / genetic engineering companies in the U.S. From a tenured professorship at the University of Minnesota, he joined Molecular Genetics in 1981 and went on to serve in several executive positions there, including President of the company when it was a leading agbiotech firm and later as Vice President for Medical Affairs, in which role he was instrumental in MGI Pharma’s development of a portfolio of cancer drugs after the company’s strategic change from agriculture to human health care. In this role, Chuck oversaw all aspects of drug development from preclinical pharmacology, toxicology, manufacturing, formulation, IND filing, clinical trials and NDA submission. MGI Pharma was eventually sold to Eisai Co., Ltd. for $3.8 billion in 2008.
Chuck moved from MGI Pharma to Vice President for Agricultural Policy and Dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences from 1999-2006. And from 2006-2012 he held various senior positions for the University managing complex real estate and land transactions. Currently, Chuck is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, with adjunct appointments in the School of Medicine. Chuck is also involved in several early-stage life science companies and a University-based technology transfer and commercial product development initiative he led and that is jointly funded by the NIH and the University—one of three Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) sites in the U.S. supported by the NIH and focused on entrepreneurial faculty with serious commercialization goals.
Hamilton Potter
Hamilton Potter has devoted his career to managing and investing in privately-held companies. He is the principal of Skillman Management, LLC, which owns IAB Solutions, LLC, an accounts receivable management company serving some of the largest and most highly regarded consumer product companies. Skillman also owns a specialty forest products company, Phillips Angelica Forest Products, LLC, based in Angelica, New York. PAFP manufactures fence pickets, posts, and byproduct wood chips, sawdust and bark.
Skillman previously owned Accordis Inc., a national medical financial BPO services company serving some of the largest public health care providers in the country, producing about $800 million of client healthcare revenue per year. Mr. Potter served as President and CEO of Accordis.
Mr. Potter was previously an owner, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Physicians Support Systems, Inc. PSS provided hospitals and hospital-based physicians with accounts receivable management services. Mr. Potter and his partners grew that business from 70 employees to become the second largest in the industry, with 2,300 employees serving clients in 29 states through 11 major operating centers. PSS grew internally and also acquired 13 competitors around the country. In 1996, Mr. Potter and his partners brought PSS public though an IPO.
Mr. Potter has also been a significant shareholder and/or manager in companies in technology, manufacturing, distribution, healthcare products, security, chemical, textile, real estate, aviation, and financial management. His investments include a broad range of structures and his management responsibilities have included all functional areas.
Mr. Potter holds a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.B.A from Stanford Graduate School of Business.