Central Michigan University

Monday, March 17, 2008

CMU-RC announces new leadership

Central Michigan University Research Corporation's Board of Directors has selected a new president and chief executive officer to lead initiatives in advancing the research park.

Ken Van Der Wende will begin his term April 1. As president and CEO of CMU-RC, he will facilitate innovative research and development opportunities between the university and high technology companies and continue to build upon the enterprise, which now includes a number of research companies focusing on nanotechnology.

Van Der Wende comes to CMU-RC with more than three decades of experience with The Dow Chemical Company, most recently having served as the global commercial director for indirect sales, where he was responsible for $7 billion in revenue across the company's plastics and chemicals portfolios.

His tenure with Dow included work in finance, investor relations, sales, marketing, business development, business management and various commercial roles such as market research and communications.

Van Der Wende also is a seasoned entrepreneur. He started the largest northern New Jersey retail produce store, an industrial cleaning business, a ski teaching device company and an auto delivery service. He has taught Wharton case studies and has served as an international guest lecturer and as an American Marketing Association national marketing plan judge.

Janine Janosky, vice provost for research, served on CMU-RC's selection committee. "I am confident that Ken Van Der Wende will be able to take CMU-RC to the next level," Janosky said. "The breadth of his private sector research experience demonstrates that he is a results-driven, successful leader."

Van Der Wende holds a bachelor's degree in economics and education from Calvin College. He also has completed an executive finance program from the Wharton School of Business in addition to executive education at IMD, a leading global business school in Switzerland.