• Board Of Directors
  • Genus Executive Leadership Team
Board Of Directors
Iain Ferguson.png
Iain Ferguson Non-Executive Chairman

Board appointment July 2020

Committee Chairmanship: Nomination

Skills and Experience

- Extensive Board, governance and leadership experience

- Strong commercial, science and agribusiness expertise across a range of industries, with a particular focus on consumer goods and food

- Deep appreciation of capital markets and investor sentiment

Current appointments

Chairman of Crest Nicholson Holdings plc; Chairman of Personal Assets Trust plc; Pro Chancellor of Cranfield University.

Past appointments

Chairman of Berendsen plc and Stobart Group Ltd; Senior Independent Director of Sygen International plc and Balfour Beatty plc; Non-Executive Director of Greggs plc; Lead Independent Director at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle plc; General Manager of Unilever AgriBusiness; Chair, Unilever Plantations and Plant Sciences Group; and Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Unilever.

Jorgen Kokke.png
Jorgen Kokke Chief Executive

Board appointment: May 2023

Skills and Experience:

- Deep experience in the international food and agriculture sectors, including 14 years in global leadership roles at Ingredion Incorporated, a leading New York listed food and beverage ingredient solutions company

- Led Ingredion’s North and South American businesses, driving growth through R&D-led innovation and commercial and operational excellence

- Masters in Economics from the University of Amsterdam

Current appointments:

None.

Past appointments:

Senior roles at Ingredion, including Executive Vice President & President Americas, President, Asia Pacific and EMEA, and President, North America; Vice President of Food & Nutrition and Director of Strategy and Business Development at Corbion, a producer of sustainable ingredient solutions; and leadership positions at Loders Croklaan.

Alison Henriksen.png
Alison Henriksen Chief Financial Officer

Board Appointment: January 2020

Skills and Experience:

- Over 25 years of experience in finance, mergers and acquisitions, business transformation and investor relations, operating across Europe, Australia, Asia, the US and South Africa

- Proven track record of driving performance in public and privately held organisations, both business to business and business to consumer

- Qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young

Current appointments

None.

Past appointments

Chief Financial Officer of V.Group, a global leader in ship management; Finance Director, UK & Ireland and Finance Director, Australia, at Compass Group plc; and Chief Financial Officer of Specialty Fashion Group Ltd, a former ASX-listed company.

Lysanne Gray.png
Lysanne Gray Non-Executive Director

Board appointment: April 2016

Committee Chairmanship: Audit & Risk

Committee Membership: Remuneration, Nomination

Skills and Experience

- Significant experience of risk management, audit, business operations, acquisitions and disposals, and corporate governance, gained within the food sector

- Qualified Chartered Accountant

- The Board’s Sustainability Sponsor and one of our designated Workforce Engagement Directors

Current appointments

None.

Past appointments

Global leadership roles at Unilever plc, including Executive Vice President Sustainable Business Performance and Reporting, Financial Controller, Chief Auditor of Unilever; Chief Financial Officer of Unilever’s global food service business; and a number of other senior operational and financial positions.

 

Lesley Knox.png
Lesley Knox Senior Independent Director

Board appointment: June 2018

Committee Chairmanship: Remuneration

Committee Membership: Nomination, Audit & Risk

Skills and Experience

- Broad international, strategic and financial services experience, through executive and nonexecutive roles

- Has advised numerous companies including manufacturers and distributors of food products, encompassing poultry and poultry breeding companies

- One of our designated Workforce Engagement Directors

Current appointments

Senior Independent Director of 3i Group plc; and Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of Legal & General Group plc.

Past appointments

Founder Director of British Linen Advisers; senior roles at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson; solicitor at Slaughter & May; and numerous non-executive roles, including T Centrica, SAB Miller, Alliance Trust, Hays, Scottish Provident, Bank of Scotland, Grosvenor Group and Thomas Cook.

 

Professor Jason Chin.png
Professor Jason Chin Non-Executive Director

Board appointment: April 2021

Committee Membership: Remuneration, Nomination, Audit & Risk

Skills and Experience

- Deep scientific expertise gained in academic and commercial research institutions

- Working to develop and apply methods for reprogramming the genetic code of living organisms, spanning chemistry, chemical biology and synthetic biology

- Associate Faculty at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, where he researches synthetic genomics

- Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences; Trinity College, Cambridge; and the Royal Society

Current appointments

Head of the Centre for Chemical and Synthetic Biology at the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Biology; Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Constructive Biology; Non-Executive Director of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology.

Past appointments

Positions on the scientific advisory boards of a number of companies, including Synaffix BV, where he retains an advisory role.

 

Dr Ralph Heuser.png
Dr Ralph Heuser Non-Executive Director

Board Appointment: January 2024

Committee Membership: Remuneration, Audit & Risk, Nomination

Skills and experience:

- Extensive experience in animal healthcare business globally

- Widespread experience in operations, commercial excellence and the animal health industry

- PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Bonn

Current appointments

Senior Advisor with Stonehaven Consulting (SC Group) AG.

Past appointments

Global leadership roles at Elanco Animal Health, including Vice President for Asia Pacific, Europe and International Commercial Operations. Previous roles at Pfizer; Boehringer Ingelheim, where he launched a PRRS vaccine in Germany; and Novartis’s Consumer and Animal Health divisions.

Dan Hartley.png
Dan Hartley Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

Board appointment: June 2014

Skills and Experience

- Significant experience in multi-jurisdictional patent litigation, mergers and acquisitions, patent and technology licensing and managing product life cycles

- Degrees in science and law

Current appointments

None.

Past appointments

Senior Vice President and International Counsel of Shire plc; and senior and global roles in private practice, in the UK and Australia.

Genus Executive Leadership Team
Jorgen Kokke.png
Jorgen Kokke Chief Executive

Board appointment: May 2023

Skills and Experience:

- Deep experience in the international food and agriculture sectors, including 14 years in global leadership roles at Ingredion Incorporated, a leading New York listed food and beverage ingredient solutions company

- Led Ingredion’s North and South American businesses, driving growth through R&D-led innovation and commercial and operational excellence

- Masters in Economics from the University of Amsterdam

Current appointments:

None.

Past appointments:

Senior roles at Ingredion, including Executive Vice President & President Americas, President, Asia Pacific and EMEA, and President, North America; Vice President of Food & Nutrition and Director of Strategy and Business Development at Corbion, a producer of sustainable ingredient solutions; and leadership positions at Loders Croklaan.

Alison Henriksen.png
Alison Henriksen Chief Financial Officer

Board Appointment: January 2020

Skills and Experience:

- Over 25 years of experience in finance, mergers and acquisitions, business transformation and investor relations, operating across Europe, Australia, Asia, the US and South Africa

- Proven track record of driving performance in public and privately held organisations, both business to business and business to consumer

- Qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young

Current appointments

None.

Past appointments

Chief Financial Officer of V.Group, a global leader in ship management; Finance Director, UK & Ireland and Finance Director, Australia, at Compass Group plc; and Chief Financial Officer of Specialty Fashion Group Ltd, a former ASX-listed company.

Dan Hartley.png
Dan Hartley Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

Board appointment: June 2014

Skills and Experience

- Significant experience in multi-jurisdictional patent litigation, mergers and acquisitions, patent and technology licensing and managing product life cycles

- Degrees in science and law

Current appointments

None.

Past appointments

Senior Vice President and International Counsel of Shire plc; and senior and global roles in private practice, in the UK and Australia.

Jerry Thomapson.png
Jerry Thompson Regional Director, ABS EMEA

GELT appointment: July 2012

Skills and Experience

- Natural entrepreneur with deep industry knowledge, commercial skills and international experience

- Has helped Genus establish and grow businesses in countries as diverse as the UK, Russia, India and China

- Degree in Agriculture from the University of Plymouth and a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program

Career

- Joined PIC in 1992, working initially in the UK and then Siberia and Romania, before leading PIC in Central and Eastern Europe and then Europe as a whole

- Led PIC and ABS in Russia and Asia Pacific, before becoming COO for Genus Asia in 2012 and then COO for Genus ABS Beef in July 2016. He was appointed as Global Head of Beef and Aqua in April 2024. Jerry was appointed to his current role in July 2024

Angelle Rosata.png
Angelle Rosata Chief Human Resources Officer

GELT appointment: July 2017

Skills and Experience

- Combines commercial acumen with broad expertise in resourcing, talent and succession, leadership development, and health and safety

- Extensive strategic planning skills help align the Group’s people agenda and its business needs

- Masters in Human Resource Development from Vanderbilt University

Career

- Joined Genus PIC in September 2013, following more than 20 years in the healthcare sector

- Developed and delivered PIC’s people strategy, before becoming HR Director for ABS and then Group HR Director in July 2017

Dr Elena Rice.png
Dr Elena Rice Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D

GELT Appointment 15 July 2019

Skills and Experience:

- Deep expertise in running R&D programmes, regulatory science and portfolio management

Has led the development and introduction of genetic improvement technologies and nurtured a portfolio of gene editing projects

BSc and MSc in Biology from Moscow State University, and PhD in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry from the Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology in Moscow

Career:

Joined Genus as Chief Scientific Officer in July 2019

Spent 18 years in increasingly senior roles at Bayer, leading teams using pioneering science and cutting-edge technology to help farmers grow food more sustainably

Dr Matt Culbertson.png
Dr Matt Culbertson Chief Operating Officer, Genus PIC

GELT appointment January 2023

Skills and Experience:

Spent entire career in porcine industry

Has led the development and implementation of Genus PIC’s genetic strategy and technical services capability, as well as leading the commercial engagement with many of PIC’s most significant customers

Doctorate in Animal Breeding and Genetics from the University of Georgia

Career:

Joined Genus in 2011 as PIC’s Director of Genetic Services and Sales and became Global Product Development and Technical Services Director in 2012, before becoming Chief Operating Officer in July 2023

Previously spent nine years working for Murphy-Brown (now Smithfield Foods), where he managed the internal genetics programme and technical operations for its Eastern operations

Jim Low.png
Jim Low Chief Operating Officer, Genus ABS

GELT appointment April 2024

Skills and Experience:

Very experienced and highly effective leader of complex global organisations

Spent more than 25 years in the nutrition and food industry

BA in Economics and Managerial Studies from Rice University and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin

Career:

Previously Chief Commercial Officer for Glanbia’s $1 billion global nutritional solutions business, delivering double-digit profit growth

More than 20 years with Ingredion Incorporated in increasingly senior leadership roles, including General Manager for the Systems and Ingredients Solutions business and General Manager for Greater China and Japan, based in Shanghai