Age: 51

Place of birth: Champagne, Ill.

Residence: Plymouth

Family: wife, Sally; sons, Jeff, Derek and Michael; daughter, Sarah

Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D., biochemical engineering; Duke University, bachelor's degree, biomedical engineering

Career: Piper Jaffray & Co., managing director and chief science adviser; Khosla Ventures, chief science officer; Cargill Inc., director of biotechnology; University of Wisconsin-Madison, professor of chemical engineering

Heroes: Leonardo Da Vinci, Louis Pasteur