Diomics Mourns the Passing of Founder and CEO Jeff Morhet, Announces Forward Plans

 

Diomics Founder and CEO Jeff Morhet died on July 21st in the crash of his CJ-6A airplane. He is survived by his wife Deirdre, and their children; Alexandra, Teddy and Gemma. The Morhet’s eldest son, Jack, was also a victim in the accident.

Chairman Jim Woodcock, and the Board of Directors reaffirmed their commitment to move the company forward. Dr. Leroy Chiao will serve as Acting CEO, assisted by Director and Founder Kirk Avery. All other key personnel remain in place, including Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Tom Kindt, VP-Development and Operations Dr. Franco Ferrari, and Director of DNA Services Dr. Michal Prochazka.

Dr. Chiao previously served as Special Advisor to Diomics. He is a former NASA Astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) Commander, and has served in leadership and management positions in both commercial industry and government. Prior to joining NASA, he worked as a materials process research engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and at Hexcel Corporation. Dr. Chiao studied Chemical Engineering, earning a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1983. He continued his studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, earning his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in 1985 and 1987.

Jeff Morhet was an accomplished biotech leader spanning all aspects of the industry, from discovery research and startups to leading global clinical trials for all phases of human testing.  Prior to launching Diomics in 2010, Morhet was Chairman & CEO of a publicly traded biotech he founded for the development and commercialization of biologics (monoclonal antibodies). Morhet earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Stephen F. Austin State University. He also attended Arizona State University’s Executive MBA Program, as well as programs at Harvard Business School. 

Diomics, based in La Jolla, California, is a bioscience company focused on the development of Diomat™ technology for a range of life science, aerospace and specialty products.  Diomat™ is a novel class of nano-composite material. Because of its small size, unique structure and extreme stability, Diomat™ combines the advantages of traditional high-speed manufacturing processes with the key features and potential of nanotechnology.  For more information about Diomics Corporation, please visit www.diomics.com.

Ken Alltucker, Arizona Republic:

Angela Gonzales, Phoenix Business Journal:

Ryan Severance, Pueblo Chieftan: