Biographies of Officers

Philip D. Ankeny
interim Chief Executive Officer, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

John Middleton, PhD
Vice President Drug Delivery Product Development

Charles W. Olson
Senior Vice President Business Development and Marketing

Bryan K. Phillips
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Brian L. Robey
Senior Vice President, Product Development

Eugene C. Rusch
Vice President Manufacturing

Michael J. Shoup
Vice President Quality, Clinical, Regulatory

Joseph J. Stich
Vice President Corporate Development and Strategy

Arthur J. Tipton, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer

Jan M. Webster
Vice President of Human Resources


Philip D. Ankeny, interim Chief Executive Officer, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Philip D. Ankeny joined SurModics as Chief Financial Officer in April 2003, with the additional responsibilities of Vice President, Business Development added in 2004. He was promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2006 and was appointed interim Chief Executive Officer in June 2010. Prior to joining SurModics, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Cognicity, Inc. from 1999 to 2002. Mr. Ankeny’s professional experience also included leadership positions at Sherpa Partners, LLC, a venture capital and venture development firm, Robertson Stephens and Morgan Stanley. He received an A.B. degree in Economics and Engineering from Dartmouth College in 1985 and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1989. Back to Top

 

John Middleton, PhD, Vice President Drug Delivery Product Development
Dr. Middleton was named Vice President Drug Delivery Product Development for SurModics, Inc. in March 2010. His previous position was Vice President, SurModics Pharmaceuticals – Operations. John has a wealth of experience in leading technical teams on programs at both the bench and clinical level. Prior to becoming part of Surmodics, Dr. Middleton held technical and leadership positions at the director and vice president level at Birmingham Polymers, Southern BioSystems, Durect Corporation and Atrix Laboratories. As a Director of Product Development at Durect from 2001-2003, Dr. Middleton lead technical teams to develop drug delivery products for both parenteral and oral applications. Dr. Middleton has published several articles in scientific and trade journals, is a joint author on four patents and has presented at numerous meetings in the area of biodegradable polymers. He received his bachelor of science in chemistry and biology from Birmingham-Southern College and his doctorate in Polymer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi. Back to Top

 

Charles W. Olson, Senior Vice President Business Development and Marketing
Charlie joined SurModics in July 2001 as Market Development Manager, was promoted in December 2002 to Director, Business Development, named General Manager of the Hydrophilic Technologies business unit in April 2004, and promoted to Vice President and General Manager, Hydrophilic Technologies in October 2004. In April 2005, the position of Vice President, Sales was added to his responsibilities. In November 2008, Charlie assumed responsibility for the newly formed Cardiovascular business unit. In March 2010, Charlie was promoted to Senior Vice President Business Development and Marketing. Before joining SurModics, Charlie was employed as General Manager at Minnesota Extrusion and worked at Lake Region Manufacturing in project management and technical sales. He received a BSBA degree in Marketing from Winona State University in 1987. Back to Top

 

Bryan K. Phillips, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Bryan Phillips joined SurModics in July 2005 as Patent Counsel and Assistant General Counsel. In January 2006, Bryan was appointed Corporate Secretary and he was promoted to Deputy General Counsel in October 2007. He was promoted to his current role as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in September 2008. Prior to joining SurModics, Bryan served as patent counsel at Guidant Corporation's Cardiac Rhythm Management Group where he was responsible for developing and implementing intellectual property strategies and also for supporting the company's business development function. He also practiced law at the Minneapolis-based law firm of Merchant & Gould P.C. Bryan received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas and his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. He is admitted to the Minnesota State Bar association, registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and is a member of various legal and professional organizations. Back to Top

 

Brian L. Robey, Senior Vice President, Product Development
Brian Robey joined SurModics in March 2005 as Senior Director of Commercial Drug Delivery and was promoted to Vice President and General Manager, Drug Delivery in May 2006. Brian assumed the role of Vice President, Product Development and Operations in November 2008, and was named Senior Vice President Product Development in March 2010.  Brian has 18 years of experience in the medical device industry, serving in product development and management positions at both Guidant Corporation and Southwest Research Institute. Mr. Robey received bachelor's and master's degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University and an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Back to Top

 

Eugene C. Rusch, Vice President Manufacturing
Gene Rusch joined SurModics in March 2010 as Vice President Manufacturing. Gene brings with him 34 years of experience including a demonstrated ability to manage large complex operations and as such has successfully directed several major plant expansions in the past. Prior to joining SurModics, Mr. Rusch served Alkermes, Inc. as Vice President/General Manager-Manufacturing Operations beginning in 2004. Gene worked for over 20 years for Hoffmann-LaRoche Pharmaceutical in several managerial and directorship positions including two years as Director of Parenteral Manufacturing Operations. Gene possesses exceptional technical expertise in all aspects of pharmaceutical manufacturing and support functions. Mr. Rusch received his BS degree in Microbiology from Rutgers University. Back to Top

 

Michael J. Shoup, Vice President Quality, Clinical, Regulatory
Michael Shoup joined SurModics in March 2006 as Vice President of Quality, Regulatory and Clinical Affairs. Mike assumed additional responsibilities for Analytical Chemistry and Surface Characterization in January 2007, and for Minnesota Facilities in January 2008. In March 2010, Mike was named Vice President Quality, Clinical, Regulatory. Before joining SurModics, he was Director of Quality and Design Assurance for St. Jude Medical's Cardiac Surgery Division. Mike has over 25 years of experience in quality assurance and manufacturing, including almost 20 years in the medical device industry with companies such as St. Jude Medical, Acorn Cardiovascular, and Boston Scientific SciMed. He teaches a graduate level course in medical device design and manufacturing with St. Thomas as an adjunct professor in the School of Engineering and is a regular lecturer for the Center of Business Excellence. Mr. Shoup received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota and earned his MBA with a manufacturing systems concentration from the University of St. Thomas. Back to Top

 

Joseph J. Stich, Vice President Corporate Development and Strategy
Joe Stich joined SurModics in March 2010 as Vice President Corporate Development and Strategy, after recently serving as Vice President, Corporate Development for Abraxis Bioscience. Joe brings 22 years of diverse commercial and business development experience within the biopharmaceutical industry to SurModics. From 2004 - 2009, Joe worked at Eisai Pharmaceuticals (MGI PHARMA, Inc.), in capacities of Business Development, VP Sales, and VP Executive Advisor. Prior experience also includes serving as President/COO of Pharmaceutical Corp. of America (a subsidiary of Publicis Healthcare Specialty Group), and positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing at Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals. Joe received his BBA from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater in 1988, and his MBA from Rockhurst University in Kansas City in 1996. Back to Top

 

Arthur J. Tipton, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
Arthur J. Tipton became Vice President, SurModics and President, SurModics Pharmaceuticals, coincident with the acquisition of Brookwood Pharmaceuticals by SurModics in August 2007. Dr. Tipton joined Southern Research Institute in 2004 and then became President and CEO of Brookwood Pharmaceuticals, when it was launched as a new company based on Southern Research Institute’s pharmaceutical formulations business in January 2005. In March 2010, Dr. Tipton was named Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of SurModics, Inc. Prior to joining Southern Research Institute, Dr. Tipton served as Executive Vice President at Durect Corporation. Dr. Tipton also held a variety of positions at Southern BioSystems (now part of Durect), including Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, where he led all efforts on biodegradable technology from 1993 to 2001. Dr. Tipton was with Atrix Laboratories (now part of QLT Inc.) from 1988 to 1993. He currently serves on the Boards of the Biotechnology Association of Alabama, Controlled Release Society, TechBirmingham, Birmingham Venture Club and the Industry Council of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Tipton earned a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a B.S. in Chemistry from Spring Hill College. Back to Top

 

Jan M. Webster, Vice President of Human Resources
Jan Marie Webster joined SurModics as Vice President of Human Resources in January of 2006. Ms. Webster came to SurModics with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, most recently as Director of Human Resources for the Cardiac Surgery division of St. Jude Medical, Inc. Ms. Webster graduated cum laude from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned an M.A. in human resources and industrial relations from the University of Minnesota. Back to Top