Bio

Dr. Plonka joined MMI as its President and CEO in the spring of 2009. He holds an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and a Doctorate in Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University.

Before joining MMI, he retired as Vice President of Venture Capital from The Dow Chemical Company. Dr. Plonka began his career with Dow Chemical in 1970 in Research and Development. He has been involved in Business Development opportunities in numerous business sectors and geographies. From 1994 to 2000, he was responsible for Dow's Private Equity investing program involving a $500M evergreen fund for investment in emerging technologies, business models, and markets and the Corporate New Business Development activities.

From 2000 to 2008, Dr. Plonka was responsible for the company's Venture Capital investment program. In addition to his positions in Dow, he has been the CEO of Boride Products (structural ceramics), a board member of Asahi-Dow (a Tokyo-based Japanese joint venture), and a Board Member of Epicyte Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Plonka's areas of experience include:

• Private Equity transactions (buy and sell) both domestic and foreign
• Multinational Joint Venture formation and management
• Fund raising
• Corporate spin-outs
• Mergers & Acquisitions

He also has investment experience in these sectors:

• Life Sciences
• Materials/Material Science
• Large Enterprise Hardware/Software
• Alternative Energy
  

Dr. Plonka is also currently a partner at Griffon Financial Services LLC, a provider of services to the Venture Capital Industry and Private Equity Investors.