St. Louis, MO and Research Triangle Park, NC – November 18, 2013 – Benson Hill , Inc., an early-stage agricultural biotechnology company focused on increasing intrinsic crop yields, today announced that it has further strengthened its executive team with the appointments of Lee Palles as Chief Financial Officer and Nadine Carozzi as Vice President of Product Development. Mr. Palles has been a senior financial and operational executive with numerous early-stage technology companies through rapid growth and commercialization phases. Ms. Carozzi brings to Benson Hill more than 25 years of experience in the agricultural biotechnology industry, and has led the development and deregulation of multiple biotech-based traits.
“We are thrilled to have Nadine and Lee on the team,” said Matt Crisp, President & CEO of Benson Hill . “Their deep experience with successful early-stage enterprises and in translating promising technologies to commercial realization will further accelerate Benson Hill’s growth trajectory and enhance our ability to deliver shareholder value.”
Mr. Palles has been a C-level executive for numerous companies across the life science, high-tech, investment management, and alternative energy industries. A former consultant with Deloitte, Lee brings to Benson Hill more than 30 years of experience as a leader in high-growth environments, financial management, venture finance, M&A, systems consulting, and sales. In addition to his business development roles, Lee has been a community leader, donating time to his passions to foster entrepreneurship, and supporting positive self-image and development opportunities for youth. Lee has a BSBA in accounting from Mississippi State University, a CPA license, Series 27, 7, and 63 Securities licenses, and is a former US Olympian.
Ms. Carozzi has a wide range of product development experience in the agricultural biotechnology industry, spanning from having a primary role in the introduction of the first insect resistant genetically engineered corn in 1995 by Ciba Seeds to new herbicide resistant corn lines developed at Athenix Corp. and deregulated in 2013. Prior to joining Benson Hill , Nadine was Director of Corn Traits at Bayer CropSciences, where she joined after co-founding and serving as the Vice President of Product Development at Athenix. Prior to Athenix, she spent 17 years at Syngenta (previously Ciba-Geigy and Novartis) working in the Seeds division to commercialize insect resistant corn and cotton. Nadine holds a BS in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and an MS in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Florida. She is an inventor on more than 65 patents.
