Verdesian Life Sciences, Cary, N.C. reports that it is expanding its team to include Jake Underwood as executive vice president of nutritionals and John “Sam” Wilson, Ph.D., as vice president of technology development.
Underwood will report to Chief Operating Officer Greg Thompson. Most recently, Underwood was Agrium Inc.’s Crop Production Services’ general manager of ag retail for Indiana. He has also worked for J.R. Simplot Co., United Agri Products, and Loveland Products Inc. He has a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Oregon State University.
Wilson has over 30 years of experience and was most recently global field development manager for FMC, where he managed new product development and led research for more than 250 trials around the world. He has also worked for United Agri Products, Zeneca AG Products, and Monsanto. Verdesian says that over his career, he has played a key role in bringing 52 new products to market and will work directly in collaboration with CEO J.J. Grow to expand the Verdesian product portfolio. Wilson earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from North Carolina State University and received his doctorate from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.