Our Board Members:
Mark D. Dibner, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and Board Chairman
Mark brings to the Kramden Institute a strong background in management of technology, education, non-profit management, and entrepreneurship. In June 2003, he and his son Ned began the Kramden pilot project in their basement. He was founder and President of two companies, BioAbility, LLC (1994 to present) and Strategic Outcomes Services, Inc. (1998, until its sale in 2001). He served as a Fellow of the Wharton School from 1986 through 1988, and from 1986 through 1998 was an adjunct associate professor on the faculty of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, where he taught courses on entrepreneurship and management of technology. His not-for-profit organization experience includes serving as a Vice President of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center from 1986 to 1994. He holds a Ph.D. in neurobiology and pharmacology from Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, an M.B.A. in strategic planning from Widener University, and a B.A. in physiological psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked as a researcher in neuropharmacology and cell biology at the Univ. of Colorado Medical School and the Univ. of California at San Diego, and later for six years as a principal scientist at E.I. DuPont and Co. Mark is the author of 13 books on technology management and biotechnology in the United States and Japan, and over 120 published articles. He has served on numerous boards of directors, including those of companies, non-profits, and editorial boards. Mark and his wife, Elaine live in Henderson and Raleigh, NC.
William N. Wofford, esq., Vice Chairman and Secretary
William is a Partner of the law firm of Hutchison Law Group of Raleigh, NC. His practice focuses on corporate and transactional matters for technology companies. Many of his clients are innovating in the areas of cell therapy, drug discovery, drug delivery, software and related fields. He regularly helps these companies raise capital, acquire and out-license technology, collaborate with strategic partners and engage in mergers and acquisitions. Bill joined Hutchison & Mason in 2001 after practicing at large New York and North Carolina firms. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
Peter Adams, CPA, Treasurer
Peter is a Partner of the Accounting firm of Hughes, Pittman and Gupton, LLP of Raleigh, NC. Pete has twenty years of experience in public accounting, with an additional three years in taxation with the IRS and a tax software house. He was previously with Dinsmore Gruhl and Company P.C., CPAs outside of Boston for five years as a senior accountant, and was with a local Raleigh firm for two years before joining Hughes Pittman & Gupton, L.L.P. in September 1994. He became a partner in June 1998. He is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University.
Karen Ondrick, Board Member
Karen is currently the Program Director for Community and Government Relations at Lenovo executive headquarters in Morrisville, NC. Her responsibilities include acting as the State’s single point of contact for Lenovo, representing Lenovo in community-related technology initiatives, and coordinating Lenovo’s employee volunteer initiatives and the annual U.S. charitable giving program. Karen joined IBM in 1981 in Connecticut and spent 12 years in management positions in various Northeast U.S. sales branch, regional, and headquarters functions. Karen moved to Raleigh in 1993 assuming the role of IBM Operations Manager for the consolidated Southeast U.S. Customer Support Organization, and moved to IBM’s Personal Computing Division (PCD) in 1996. Karen held various management positions in PCD’s Americas organization, including Business Partner Support Operations, Client Satisfaction, Quality Management and ISO9001, and Executive Assistant to the IBM Americas Senior Executive. Karen assumed her current role in North Carolina Community and Government Relations for Lenovo in 2005, after the acquisition of IBM’s Personal Computing Division by the Lenovo Group.
Michael Rosenberg, MD, MPH, Board Member
Michael is President and Chief Executive Officer of Health Decisions, Inc., a private clinical research company. In studies conducted throughout the world, the company has established itself as a leader in the application of technology to improve the efficiency and speed of the clinical research process. Dr. Rosenberg was also selected at Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the Life Sciences Division in 2000. He currently serves as Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina. His professional achievements have been recognized by fellowship in the American College of Physicians, American College of Preventive Medicine, and the American College of Epidemiology. Dr. Rosenberg received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of California and a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Harvard.
Rubestene Fisher Potter, Board Member
Rubestene joined Kramden Institute’s Board in March 2007. She is former Chapter President of Phi Delta Kappa, an organization of teachers and administrators in the field of education. She is a 36-year resident of Durham and began her professional career as a first grade teacher in Garland, NC and a fifth grade teacher in Pleasantville, NJ. After 30-plus years of teaching, she retired as a media specialist in the Durham Public School System in 2002. She has a Masters in Library Science & Communications from NCCU and UNC-CH. She lives with her husband Robert in Durham, North Carolina.
Jim Kitchen, Board Member
Jim is the president of Real Property Development, a commercial real estate business specializing in acquiring apartment complexes, drug stores and other triple-net investments. Formerly he started a tour operation business specializing in group tours to the Caribbean. In 2005, after 18 years at the helm, Jim sold his company to Tui Travel, a multinational travel conglomerate based in the UK. Jim is now devoting more of his time and talents to helping others. He is mentoring 6 start-up business ventures including two social entrepreneurship companies, www.aBANonNeglect.com which teaches homeless children in Accra (Ghana) life / entrepreneurial skills and running-FAR which supports Kenyan runners competing in road races in the United States. He is excited to join the Kramden Board to use his entrepreneurial skills helping to bridge the ‘digital divide’ in NC and beyond. Jim received his MBA at the University of Tennessee, and is currently enrolled in a Masters in Management program at George Washington University. He has run 25 marathons and an Ultra-marathon (50 miles), is building an electric Porsche 911 car, became interested in space travel when he began promoting low-orbit space travel in 1989 (with Space Expeditions) and has begun writing a book, a daily leadership devotional for executives, entitled 3 Minute Leadership Lessons. Jim lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife and 2 children.
Bob McCarthy, Board Member
Bob has served as President of Consonus Technologies, a datacenter and IT services company, since June 2010. He previously served as Co-President and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Consonus. From 2006 until 2008 he served as the President, CEO, and board member of Ring 9, Inc., a provider of voice over IP and business collaboration services. From 2004 until 2006 he served as Vice President for the Florida and Caribbean markets for CA, Inc. (formerly Computer Associates), leading a sales organization serving enterprise business customers. Prior to CA he had a 16 year career at AT&T, where he held a variety of positions in sales, marketing, and operations, most recently as a Sales Center Vice President in Florida. Mr. McCarthy holds a bachelor’s degree and masters in electrical engineering, as well as an MBA, all from Cornell University. He has also completed executive education courses at Stanford University. He has served on numerous not for profit boards in the past, and is currently a member of the Raleigh Chapter of the National Association of CEOs.
Keval Mehta, Board Member
Instilled with an entrepreneurial spirit, love of medicine, business, and technology, Keval Mehta stepped away from a dream of being a cardiac surgeon to make some serious reforms in healthcare. He discovered that to make progress in improving the healthcare system; one must empower individual people to realize healthcare is not a right but rather, it is a responsibility. From this concept Jaargon was born. Jaargon utilizes mobile, web, and cloud technology to empower people to take their health into their own hands. Keval currently serves as the CEO of Jaargon as well as the Vice President of Advanced Technology for the Health and Safety Institute; the largest privately held first aid training company in the world. Keval has been credited with creating products like GotoAID, a first aid and disaster preparedness system and now INRFOOD a revolutionary means to identifying the ingredients in food and the corresponding health effects of those ingredients. Three times a year you will find Keval volunteering in developing countries; working with the local governments and charity organizations to educate locals about improving their health conditions. With the new technological innovations coming from Jaargon, the sky is the limit on how people will be able to monitor their health in real time.
