ADM Hires Head of DOE's Bio-Based Products Program

So, if you are attempting to become the world's leading bio-products company, who would you hire? How about the guy who coordinated all these programs for the Department Of energy?

Todd A. Werpy joins Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) in the newly created position of VP, Biofuels & Biochemical Research, effective June 11, 2007.

Werpy comes to ADM from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, one of the DOE's nine multi-program national laboratories,where he has served as relationship manager since 2005.

As vice president, biofuels; biochemical research, Werpy will be responsible for leading ADM's new research into second generation biofuels and biochemicals. He will report to Tom Binder, president, Research.

"Todd Werpy brings additional expertise to our BioEnergy research and development team," said ADM vice president and chief technology officer Michael Pacheco. "He has exceptional knowledge of developing technologies for the conversion of renewable feedstocks to value-added chemicals, including biofuels, gasification, enzymes and fermentation. We are confident he will make a strong addition to our team."

As relationship manager at the Northwest National Laboratory, Werpy coordinated the DOE's relationships with the Office of Biomass Programs and various industry clients, as well as leading the development of proposals and acquisition of funding for the biobased products program.

From 1998-2005, he served as senior program manager where he directed and managed all research programs in the biobased products area. He is the co-author of several patents in the area of chemical conversion for creating value-added products from renewable resources.

From 1995-1998, Werpy served as director, research and business development for
the National Corn Growers Association where he developed the organization's research and business development strategy. In this role, he worked with the DOE to establish the first formal program in renewable chemicals from alternative feedstocks.

Werpy also served as a senior research scientist at Michigan Biotechnology Institute where he worked with a team of scientists and engineers to develop new processes for converting biomass. Werpy received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Southwest State University.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) is the world leader in BioEnergy and has a premier position in the agricultural processing value chain. ADM is one of the world's largest processors of soybeans, corn, wheat and cocoa. ADM is a leading
manufacturer of biodiesel, ethanol, soybean oil and meal, corn sweeteners, flour and other value-added food and feed ingredients. Headquartered in Decatur, Illinois, ADM has over 26,000 employees, more than 240 processing plants and sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006 of $37 billion. Additional information can be found on ADM's Web site at http://www.admworld.com/.

SOURCE Archer Daniels Midland Company


This will not get much press but is quite possibly the most important thing ADM has done this year. This guy knows what everyone is doing in the biomass industry, who is working on what, what is or is not working and do you think ADM will have trouble getting any gov't funding for it's efforts? Already the world's leader in ethanol, biodiesel and biodegradable plastic production ADM is now taking step to assure that lead will only increase. In the past ADM has alluded to cellulose ethanol being economically viable in a couple of years. They recently received DOE funding for a project in conjunction with Purdue University for cellulose research and we have the hire of Werpy. This guy was not hired to "start" something but to get ADM to the finish line.