David Cope
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. David Cope is President and Chief Executive Officer of Purfresh. With more than 25 years of engineering, sales, marketing and executive management experience for high-profile technology businesses, Mr. Cope adds a new dimension and perspective to building a successful company. Under Mr. Cope’s leadership, the company will accelerate its focus on developing new and differentiated clean solutions that will enable customers worldwide to deliver high quality food and water products without the use of harmful chemicals.

Mr. Cope joined Purfresh in 2004 as Chief Marketing Officer and was promoted to CEO in 2006. Previously, Mr. Cope was President and CEO of BizGenics and held a variety of executive positions for Extricity (acquired by Peregrine), Marimba, Illustra (acquired by Informix), and IBM. Mr. Cope holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biochemistry from San Jose State University. In addition, he participated in Harvard’s Advanced Executive Management program.

Kristie C. Jones
Vice President of Marketing
Joining Purfresh in 2008 as Vice President of Marketing, Ms. Kristie Jones oversees the company’s worldwide marketing strategy and operations. With 20 years of experience in marketing, product management, and sales, she specializes in new market development, and driving visibility and demand for growing companies. During her career, Ms. Jones has built and led innovative marketing teams, orchestrated award-winning initiatives, and directed impactful marketing strategies that significantly increased brand awareness and market share.

Prior to joining Purfresh, Ms. Jones held senior positions at Liquid Engines, Informatica, Alphablox, and Prism Solutions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and graduated with honors from the Craig School of Business, California State University, Fresno.

Allen Smith
General Manager of Pre-harvest Products
Mr. Allen Smith joined Purfresh in 2008 as General Manager of Pre-harvest Products. He brings over 20 years of experience in the agribusiness industry to Purfresh. During his career he successfully led and delivered on operational excellence in refocusing organizations on growth products and markets, built highly successful sales and management teams, and significantly increased market share in the U.S., Canada, Asia, and Europe.

Before joining Purfresh, Mr. Smith held senior- level positions with the agricultural division at Monsanto, BASF, and Cyanamid, agricultural divisions. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri.

Michael Weber
Vice President of Engineering
Mr. Michael Weber joined Purfresh in 2006 as Vice President of Engineering. He brings more than 20 years of engineering and technical experience to Purfresh. During his career he has been issued ten U.S. patents in process control and instrumentation, has held numerous senior-level positions, developed and introduced new product lines, and built high-performance engineering teams. 

Prior to joining Purfresh, Mr. Weber held senior executive-level positions for Nanometrics, KLA-Tencor, and Sensys Instruments. He holds a master’s in physics from University Bremen, Germany.

Frederick L. A. Grauer, Ph.D.
Chairman
Dr. Grauer is Chairman of the Board of Purfresh, Inc. He is also Senior Advisor to Barclays Global Investors and was, for fifteen years, Chairman and CEO of its predecessors. As a private investor in early stage ventures, Dr. Grauer also chairs Integrated Trade Processing Corporation and Financial Crossing. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, has a doctorate in business from Stanford University, and was a professor at M.I.T. and Columbia University. Global Custodian Magazine recognized Dr. Grauer as one of the 100 most important contributors to modern finance in the 20th century. His not-for-profit focus is on education, as Trustee of the Commonfund and The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and as Advisor to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He is a former Trustee of Menlo School and the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Scott Galletti
Board Member
Mr. Galletti joined the Purfresh board of directors in November 2007. He is a Managing Director with Chilton Investment Company, where he leads the firm’s private investing efforts. Mr. Galletti has over 15 years of financial, engineering, and operating experience. He was formerly a Managing Director at General Electric, where for over 12 years he identified and executed equity and leveraged finance investments and oversaw a number of financial restructurings and turnarounds.  From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Galletti led General Electric’s Water Finance business, evaluating various equity and debt investments in the water industry. Prior to General Electric, Mr. Galletti oversaw manufacturing operations at a $100 million retailer/manufacturer, completing the turnaround of the domestic manufacturing facility and preparing the company for an initial public offering. Mr. Galletti holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in finance from Boston College.   

Mike Sherman
Board Member
Mr. Sherman joined Purfresh's board of directors in 2007. He is Partner with Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and has more than 10 years experience in finance and strategic planning with early stage clean technology and growth companies. Mr. Sherman helped found Chrysalix in 2001, one of the first early stage venture capital firms to focus exclusively on cleantech and alternative energy investing. Prior to joining Chrysalix, Mike worked in strategic planning with Starbucks Coffee Company's Corporate Business Alliances group, developing and supporting Starbucks joint venture businesses, licensed concepts, and growth strategies. He has experience working in Canada, the United States, and the Netherlands. He is also a Partner in the BC Technology Social Venture Partnership, a charitable foundation created by individuals in BC's technology industries, that supports innovative non-profit charitable investing combined with active Partner mentoring. Currently Mr. Sherman is Chairman of the board of ReliOn Inc. and is an observer on the board of Lilliputian Systems. He holds an Honors Bachelor of Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Eric Wood
Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Wood is currently a professor with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, and will retain his current position while acting as the Chairman of Purfresh’s Scientific Advisory Board. As an internationally recognized hydrology and climate expert, Dr. Wood will also continue to serve as associate editor of the Water Resources Research journal, as Chair of the National Research Council’s Committee on Hydrological Sciences and as a member of NOAA Climate Working Group, an advisory panel to NOAA’s Climate Program Office.

Dr. Wood has published and lectured extensively around the world on water resources, hydrology and climate modeling, and the effect of hazardous waste on the environment.  He has been recognized for his research through awards from the European Geosciences Union, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union.  Dr. Wood has been on the faculty at Princeton University since 1976.  Dr. Wood holds a bachelor degree from the University of British Columbia and a doctoral degree in Civil Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge.

Paul A. Hall, Ph.D
Board Member & Scientific Advisor
Dr. Hall joined the board of directors in 2007. He is a world-renowned expert in the microbiological safety and stability of foods and beverages. Most recently, Dr. Hall was vice president of global food safety for ConAgra Foods, Inc. Prior to ConAgra, he was vice president of global business development for Matrix MicroScience Inc., and was with Kraft Foods Global for nearly 17 years. Previous experience includes Anheuser Busch Companies, Inc. and Ralston Purina Company's Central Research Division.

Dr. Hall is past president of the International Association for Food Protection and has been actively involved with various professional organizations and institutes, including the International Life Sciences Institute, the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety, the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, the Institute of Food Technologists, the American Society for Microbiology, the Food Products Association and the International Dairy Foods Association.