John Bissell co-founded Origin Materials in November 2008 and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board of directors since inception. Mr. Bissell has extensive experience in R&D, engineering, and business development in the chemical industry. In 2008, Mr. Bissell received the People, Prosperity, and the Planet Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and in 2014, he was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Energy & Industry category. Mr. Bissell holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.
Rich Riley has served as Co-Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Origin Materials since October 2020. Mr. Riley has been an advisor to and investor in Origin since 2010. From April 2013 to January 2019, Mr. Riley was the Chief Executive Officer of Shazam Entertainment Ltd, a leading mobile music application that was acquired by Apple Inc. in 2018. Mr. Riley has served as an industry advisor to KKR & Co. L.P., a leading global investment firm, since 2013. Mr. Riley was an executive at Yahoo! Inc. from Jan 1999 to Sept. 2012 with roles including EVP, Americas and SVP & MD, EMEA Region. He joined Yahoo! when it acquired Log-Me-On.com, where he was the Co-Founder and Managing Member. Mr. Riley began his career as an investment banking analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Mr. Riley was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Featured in Forbes 40 under 40 Ones to Watch and included three times in Billboard Magazine’s Power 100 list. Mr. Riley is a Trustee at St. Luke’s school, a member of the advisory Board for the Entrepreneurship Department at the Wharton School and a member of the Executive Board of Boy Scouts of America, Connecticut Yankee Council. Mr. Riley received a B.S. in economics with concentrations in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Nate Whaley joined Origin Materials in September 2020 and serves as its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Whaley has extensive expertise in scaling companies across a wide range of highly visible, capital-intensive industries including both operations and project-delivery. Prior to joining Origin, Mr. Whaley operated Whaley Group, a private provider of CFO, corporate financial and asset management advisory services. His representative engagements included serving as Senior Vice President of Finance and Strategy of Mammoth Resorts, a Starwood Capital Group portfolio company, Strategic Advisor to the World Surf League, the developer of the man-made wave system technology at the Kelly Slater Wave Company, and Chief Financial Officer and Strategic Advisor to Stikwood, a private wood wall planking manufacturer. Prior to founding Whaley Group, Mr. Whaley served as Chief Financial Officer and President – Development of Kirkwood Capital Partners, the holding company of the operating businesses, real estate development and sales, and gas and electric utility companies at Kirkwood Mountain Resort in Lake Tahoe, California. Mr. Whaley received a B.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Davis and an MBA from the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis.
Stephen Galowitz has served as Chief Commercial Officer of Origin Materials since May 2014. As Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Galowitz oversees the development of strategic relationships for commercialization of sustainable products using Origin Materials’ technology. Mr. Galowitz formerly served as co-founder and Chief Development Officer at Broadrock Renewables, LLC, where he led electricity generating projects, including the second and third largest landfill gas-to-electricity generating projects in the world. One of the projects was awarded the “Project of the Year” award from both the US Environmental Protection Agency and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Mr. Galowitz received a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania, a B.S. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Ryan Smith co-founded Origin Materials in 2008 and has served as Chief Technology Officer and a member of its board of directors since inception. Mr. Smith has deep expertise in intellectual property protection, chemical and materials technology strategy, business development, and new product development within the chemical industry. Mr. Smith received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.
Mako Masuno has over 9 years of experience with Origin Materials and over 20 years of experience in the chemistry industry. Dr. Masuno has strong expertise in natural product biosynthesis and biomimetic synthesis, pathway development and optimization, and structure/property relationships which Dr. Masuno developed during his time as a professor in the chemistry department at Sacramento and Westmont colleges in California. Dr. Masuno was a significant contributor to the development of Origin Materials’ furanic platform process and scale-up to para-xylene production. Dr. Masuno currently has 14 publications, 4 pending patents, and 5 provisionally filed patent applications. Dr. Masuno is responsible for the overall research and development of Origin Materials’ technology. Dr. Masuno has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UC Davis, and a B.S. in Chemistry from Westmont College.
Roman Wolff has 30 years of experience in technology innovation and commercialization, engineering leadership, strategic business development, partnering with suppliers and engineering companies, and operational optimization in the refining, upstream and chemical industries. Mr. Wolff’s focus has been primarily in the development, optimization, scale-up and commercialization of process technologies and products. At Merichem, Mr. Wolff led the development, scale-up and commercialization of seven different technologies. At Enhanced Biofuels, Mr. Wolff led the development, scale-up and commercialization of a disruptive biofuels technology. Mr. Wolff has implemented Stage Gate project management infrastructure at Merichem, Enhanced Biofuels and TETRA Technologies. Mr. Wolff holds an MS in Chemical Engineering and is responsible for the overall development of Origin’s plants from design to fabrication.
Joshua Lee joined Origin Materials as its Corporate Counsel in February 2018 and has served as General Counsel since December 2020 and Secretary since February 2020. Prior to joining Origin Materials, Mr. Lee was an attorney at Miller Barondess, LLP from September 2016 to February 2018, and at Irell & Manella LLP from August 2009 to September 2016. Mr. Lee received a B.A. in Economics and German from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
Tanja Gruber joined Origin Materials in December 2021 with over 20 years of experience in academia and the biochemical industry. Dr. Gruber is responsible for the overall research and development of Origin Materials’ technology. Dr. Gruber has a multidisciplinary background in biochemistry, molecular biology, chemical engineering, and microbiology with expertise in enzyme engineering and production. At DuPont and IFF, Dr. Gruber led R&D teams and projects from early stage to development in diverse topics including engineering enzymes for teeth whitening, enzymatic production of dietary fibers, and new probiotics for animal nutrition. Dr. Gruber has 14 granted patents and more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Gruber studied Chemical Engineering and Technical Chemistry in Switzerland and Austria before coming to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship. Dr. Gruber received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University and carried out postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Francisco.
Chris Williams-Campbell joined Origin Materials in January 2022. Mr. Williams-Campbell is a broadly skilled HR executive and generalist with expertise in talent acquisition, leadership, and organizational development. Mr. Williams-Campbell has spent the past 25 years in leadership positions with emerging technology-based companies, both public and private, in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries including Arcadia Biosciences, Mendel Biotechnology, Limagrain, Volcano Corporation, and ALZA Corporation. Mr. Williams-Campbell holds a B.A. in History from the University of California, Davis.