Mr. Dickheiser is an experienced transactional intellectual property attorneyand business development manager. Hehas a BA in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Fordham University, and is admitted to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office as well as in New York and Connecticut. Mr. Dickheiser drafted and successfully prosecuted more than 100 US Patents and negotiated several licensing transactions at Union Carbide Corporation, Uniroyal, Inc. and ICI Americas/Zeneca before becoming Manager of Legal Affairs and Intellectual Property for Zeneca Plant Science in 1993.  In 2000, Mr. Dickheiser became Global Head of Ventures for Syngenta, with responsibility for the negotiation of new ventures as well as for the operation of existing ventures.  Mr. Dickheiser has been working with BDA since he left Syngenta in 2003.

Markus has over 25 years of experience in international agribusiness with a focus on crop protection and seeds. He began his career in product management for Ciba-Geigy and Novartis and entered the seed industry in 1993.  For several years he managed the Argentine seed operation of Novartis, which included field, vegetable and flower seeds, and in 2000 he became the manager for RiceTec,  MercoSur region,  where he oversaw all aspects of the creation and growth of the leading hybrid rice seed company in Latin America.

Markus is a seasoned executive who speaks English, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese and is as comfortable in Latin America as he is in multinational corporate culture.   He holds a degree in Agronomy from the University of Applied Sciences, Berne, Switzerland, and an MSc and MBA from UK schools and an MBA in business and economic law from the FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Markus resides in Southern Brazil.

Fran is a senior-level executive with demonstrated expertise in operating and growing service businesses.  She has over 20 years of success building revenue and earnings by motivating teams, refocusing organizations and driving change.

Fran has extensive corporate and entrepreneurial experience in multiple industries and has experience in strategy, general management, operations, acquisitions and business development. She holds a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

For forty years Phil Talbert has been a financial, business and management consultant to private sector companies, pension plans and public employee retirement systems.  He has broad experience in business finance, with a specialty in employee stock option plans (ESOPs) and the use of ESOPs as a financing vehicle and attractive exit strategy for business owners.  In 1967 Mr. Talbert founded the actuarial and financial consulting firm, Talbert Financial Services, Inc. Over the years he has contributed to many professional programs, including Purdue University Pensions and Profit Sharing Institute and the Lewis and Clark Law School.  He has written for the Oregon State Bar Continuing Education Program, the Idaho State Bar Association and the Alaska Bar Association. Mr. Talbert primarily provides support to BDA in the area of ESOPs.