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Calumet Venture Fund Team
 

 


Claire Gruppo, Founder, Gruppo, Levey & Co.
James S. Haney, President and CEO, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
Bill Watkins, CEO, Bridgelux, Inc.
John D. Wiley, Chancellor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dario Zamarian, Vice President, Cisco Systems
 
Judy M. Owen
judy M. Owen
General Partner

 Judy M. Owen

Judy Owen has been a Silicon Valley entrepreneur for over 30 years. She started her career as a “chip” designer at Intel Corporation. Owen has held a variety of executive management roles in notable Silicon Valley leadership companies, including: Silicon Graphics, Chips and Technologies, Teknekron Communication Systems. She was also the CEO and co-founder of Wireless Access Inc. a mobile communication device company, which was acquired by Glenayre. After the acquisition, Owen was an investor in Picazo Communication and SigmaQuest, currently serving on the Board of Directors.


      BSEE, University of Wisconsin, Madison
 
Judy M. Owen
toni F. Sikes
General Partner 		Judy M. Owen

Toni Sikes is an entrepreneur with 25 years of operational and fundraising experience. Most recently, she was an investment banker with Gruppo, Levey & Co. in New York. Prior to that, she was the founder and CEO of Guild.com, a pioneer e-commerce and catalog company, as a way of bringing artists’ work directly to consumers; today, it operates under the consumer brand of Artful Home. She also started The Guild Publishing Company, a directory publishing business. Sikes has served on the boards of multiple companies and organizations in the technology industry.


       BS, Mathematics, University of Alabama
       MS, Market Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison
 
Tim A. Williams
Tim a. williams, Ph.D.
General Partner 		Tim A. Williams, Ph.D.

Dr. Tim Williams has been an engineer and entrepreneur for over 30 years. He started his career as an "IC systems" designer at Motorola Inc. Dr. Williams has founded and served as CTO or CEO of several Silicon Valley startup companies, including: Wireless Access, Picazo Communications, JetQue, Atheros Communications, SiBEAM, bitRail Networks, and BEEcube. All are in the areas of telecom, cellular, and networking integrated circuits and systems.


      BSEE, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
      MSEE, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
      Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
      MBA, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
 
 

Claire Gruppo, Founder, Gruppo, Levey & Co.
Claire Gruppo co-founded Gruppo, Levey & Co. in 1992 as an independent investment banking firm specializing in multichannel retail, media and marketing services. Gruppo Levey provides M&A and other financial advisory services to a wide range of clients in these industry sectors. Over the past 18 years, Gruppo has directed transactions and advisory assignments in every sector of the firm’s areas of expertise. Prior to co-founding the investment banking firm, Gruppo had 15 years of management experience in the publishing and direct marketing industries, ranging from start-up businesses to Fortune 500 companies. She is a frequent guest on CNBC and Fox Business News, commenting on M&A trends and analysis.

James S. Haney, President and CEO, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
Since 1985, Jim Haney has served as President of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the state’s largest and most influential business and industrial organization, representing approximately 3,500 members statewide. He started his career as an aide to Wisconsin’s Governor Warren Knowles, and later served as Deputy Secretary to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue under Governor Lee Dreyfus. He was also a practicing attorney, and served as Public Affairs Director for Bergstrom Paper Company and District Manager of Public Affairs for Wisconsin Bell. Haney’s extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, along with his deep knowledge of Wisconsin business, will be a significant contribution to Calumet.

Bill Watkins, CEO, Bridgelux, Inc.
Bill Watkins has more than 30 years of experience in the technology manufacturing industry. Currently he serves as CEO of Bridgelux, the first, new U.S.-based light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturer in the past 20 years. The company’s focus is bringing innovation to light by providing high power, energy-efficient and cost-effective LED solutions. Before joining Bridgelux, Watkins was with Seagate Technology from 1996 through 2009, serving as CEO from 2004 on. Seagate is the world’s leading disc drive and storage solutions company. Prior to that, Watkins held executive positions with Conner Peripherals and Domain Technology. He currently serves on the board of directors of Maxim Integrated Products, Flextronics and Vertical Circuits Inc.

John D. Wiley
John Wiley is a faculty member and former Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2001, Wiley became the University’s 28th chief executive. He stepped down in 2008, and currently serves as the Interim Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. A physicist by training, Wiley’s academic work has focused on research in semiconductors and solid state physics. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees in physics from UW-Madison, then went on to work with Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. He returned to Wisconsin in 1974, and spent 30 years as a professor and administrator. His tenure as Chancellor was distinguished by record-breaking fundraising efforts and strategic planning.

Dario Zamarian, Vice President, Cisco Systems
Dario Zamarian has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry with direct domain knowledge in networking, Internet security, systems management and enterprise software. Currently, he is a Vice President in the Access Routing Technology Group at Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Prior to joining Cisco, Zamarian worked in executive positions in a number of VC-funded start-up companies, including: ServGate, Securify and Cylink. He has helped companies grow by focusing on technology innovation, business strategy, operations and fund raising. Zamarian started his career at Retix as a software engineer. He holds an MSEE from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy and an MBA from INSEAD, France.