March 2, 2009

(MIDLAND, MICH.) - Michigan Molecular Institute’s next President and CEO will be Dr. James Plonka, the organization announced today.

Plonka, 65, recently retired following a 38-year career at The Dow Chemical Company, most recently as Vice President of Venture Capital. Plonka is currently the Managing Director of Griffon Financial Services.

“The MMI family is excited to have Dr. Plonka on the team,” said Dr. Ronald Yocum, chairman of the MMI Board of Directors. “We feel MMI is closing in on some real advancements, between the work our research scientists are doing and the growth of our business divisions, Impact Analytical and Dendritech. Dr. Plonka is well-suited to help take both sectors to the next stage.

“If you look at MMI’s business divisions,” Yocum added, “you can see we’re making significant progress in their development. Dr. Plonka’s areas of domestic and international expertise - joint ventures, corporate spin-outs, fund-raising - are tailor made to lead our business ventures where they need to go. At the same time, he has significant experience on the chemistry side as well, so he’s really a great fit at an important juncture at MMI.”

Plonka was introduced to the MMI staff last week.

“I’m anxious to get started and help MMI continue to grow,” Plonka said. “The institute is well-positioned to break through in some exciting areas, and while today’s economy makes things more challenging, everything I’ve seen thus far tells me MMI has the people, the scientific acumen and the drive to get there.”

Plonka succeeds Dr. Robert Nowak, whose June 1 retirement was announced last month. But the new institute leader’s presence will be felt much sooner, Yocum said.

“Dr. Plonka has agreed to join MMI as a part-time consultant until June 1,” Yocum said. “This way, he’ll hit the ground running when he steps into the president’s role. In fact, he’s already begun meeting with some of our business and science staff. This will give him a chance to really get to know the various sectors at MMI before he ‘officially’ begins the job.”

Plonka holds an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and a Doctorate in Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University. He began his career at Dow in 1970 in Research and Development. From 1994 through 2000, he was responsible for Dow’s Global New Business Development, as well as starting Dow’s Corporate Venture Capital Program, which he then spent the next eight years expanding.

In addition to his positions with Dow, he has been the CEO of Boride Products (structural ceramics), a board member of Asahi-Dow (a Tokyo-based joint venture) and a board member of Epicyte Pharmaceuticals.

Michigan Molecular Institute, founded in 1971, is a non-profit organization dedicated to polymer research and education. In addition to that research, MMI has served as the incubator for the several successful business divisions, including Dendritech, the world leader in commercial dendrimer production; Impact Analytical, an up-and-coming analytical testing lab; Oxazogen, a supplier of advanced specialty films, coating materials and polymers; and MITCON, which serves the information technology needs of more than 35 local non-profit organizations.