Peter F. Levangie, MBA
Board Chair
President and Chief Operating Officer: Bay State Milling
As President and Chief Operating Officer, Peter F. Levangie is responsible for all functional areas of the Company and its daily operating activities. Mr. Levangie joined Bay State Milling in 2004 as the Vice President of Strategic Planning. Since that time, he held the titles of Executive Vice President of Revenue & Strategic Planning and then Chief Operating Officer. In January of 2009, the Board elected Mr. Levangie President and Chief Operating Officer. Before coming to the Company, he was Chief Operating Office of EFS Network, the supply chain solutions network for the foodservice industry, which he helped found in 2000. He began his career with Cargill, Inc. and held various merchandising and general management positions. Mr. Levangie graduated from Dartmouth College in 1991 and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997.
Scott Frazer, PhD
Key Accounts Manager: Perten Instruments AB
Scott is presently Key Accounts Manager at Perten Instruments AB. Previous to this, he was the Director of Technical Services at Richardson Milling and with Viterra Oats & Specialty Grain Milling. He also held the position of R&D Manager for Cargill Horizon Milling for eight years, where he specialized in the analysis and improvement of flour functionality. While there, he led the development of Cargill’s WheatSelect® whole-wheat flour product. He has also held product development and process improvement positions in the medical devices (WL Gore), polymer (General Electric Plastics), and consumer goods (Eastman Kodak) industries. Scott received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the Univ. of Arizona.
YiFang Chu, PhD, MBA
Senior Manager: Quaker Oats Center of Excellence: PepsiCo.
Dr. Chu is the nutrition sciences platform lead for grain and convergence research at PepsiCo. He is the editor of two books: Oats Nutrition and Technology and Coffee: Emerging Health Effects and Disease Prevention. YiFang is an elected fellow at American College of Nutrition and serves on the editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals including Frontier in Nutritional Immunology, Food Chemistry, and Food Science and Nutrition. Dr. Chu is also a member of the IFT Press Advisory Board. YiFang co-authored more than 40 journal articles, patents, and book chapters. Each of his published article is cited more than 40 times on average. YiFang received his PhD from Cornell University and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Art Bettge
Consultant: ADB Wheat Consulting
Art Bettge has been involved with cereal chemistry for 35 years. For the first 32 of those years, he worked at the USDA-ARS Western Wheat Quality Lab in Pullman, WA as research lab manager. While there he investigated the fundamentals of wheat hardness, arabinoxylan/non-starch carbohydrate properties, factors affecting batter viscosity and the impact of endogenous flour compounds on end use quality. He has worked in many areas of hard and soft wheat end-use properties and has assisted in the development of all current wheat cultivars in the PNW. He has served on the AACCI Board of Directors, is current AACCI Milling and Baking Division chairman and was the Technical Program chairman for the 2013 AACCI annual meeting. Additionally, as chairman of the Soft Wheat Flour Products Technical Committee, as part of the AACCI Approved Methods Committees, he has managed five international methods collaboratives that led to four Approved Methods. He was responsible for the numbering system for the current Approved Methods. He has over forty peer-reviewed publications, a book chapter and has a patent. Currently he works as a consultant in the area of cereal chemistry and end-use functionality.
Lee Anne Murphy, PhD
Executive Director: Manitoba Agri-Health Research Network (MAHRN)
Lee Anne serves as the first point of contact for Manitoba’s vibrant functional food, food ingredient and natural health product sector. As Executive Director of the Manitoba Agri-Health Research Network Inc (MAHRN), Lee Anne coordinates the research, development and commercialization of agricultural products for health. She leads MAHRN’s interaction with growers, industries and institutions at the local and international level and manages ten equity companies for MAHRN. A proud graduate of the University of Manitoba, Lee Anne combines a solid technical background with extensive experience in the not for profit and private sectors. The Murphy’s operate a multigenerational farm in Fort Whyte, Manitoba where they grow and process specialty grains, produce the world’s best garlic and serve as reluctant hosts for thousands of Canada Geese during their fall migration.
Jan de Vries
Independent Consultant: De Vries Nutrition Solutions
Jan de Vries has more than 16 years’ experience in the Research & Development of the food industry, respectively in the Dairy Industry (Friesland Coberco from 1994-2006) and the Bakery Ingredient Supplies Industry (CSM from 2006-2010). Before starting to work for the food industry he contributed to several advices from the Dutch Food and Nutrition Council in the Netherlands. With his background in Biology, Human Nutrition and Pharmacology he is able to understand a wide variety of scientific approaches needed in the field of cereal sciences and health. His publications cover the broad area of human nutrition to pharmacology. During his industrial career he participated actively in many Task Forces of ILSI-Europe and actively represented his employers in the Top Institute Food and Nutrition in the Netherlands. From September 2010 he started a consultancy to support food industry, government and other organizations in scientific background of nutritional issues.
Zachery Sanders
Marketing Director: Ardent Mills LLC
Zachery Sanders is a dynamic executive marketing professional with over 17 years of experience in the food industry. With a Bachelor of Science Degree from Dillard University, and MBA from Belhaven College, Zachery has worked in many different facets of the food industry from seasonings, batter breadings, meat and poultry, flavors, and most recently whole grains and flours. During this time he acquired expertise in product development, quality assurance, marketing, sales, business management, as well as leadership.
In his current role as Marketing Director for Ardent Mills LLC, Zachery is responsible leading marketing efforts for Specialty Grain and Flours, Bakery, and the Mobile Innovation Center. Key focus areas include providing meaningful, insight guided market intelligence that allows the business to make informed decisions; and assisting customers to better understand market events and how to leverage them for a strategic advantage. One of Zachery’s guiding principles is “to be brilliant at the basics”. His interests include family, music, and coaching youth sports.