Edward Hamilton
Chairman of the Board

BS Veterinary Science, DVM (cum laude), MAgr Economics, Professor Emeritus,

Edward is a former Extension Entrepreneur Coordinator, Livestock Production Analyst, Department of Veterinary Science, SDSU.   Dr. Hamilton has 15 years private practice experience and 15 years of university teaching/extension experience.  His primary area of expertise is in the integration of health, production, and financial records for production agricultural. He played a key role in the development of Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) which is a business analysis tool for production agriculture.  He has served as a past President of the Farm Financial Standards Council.  He has extensive experience with entrepreneurship and business development in rural areas, particularly in the area of establishing value-added projects for crops and livestock.  He has owned and operated several businesses over the years to include two veterinary clinics, a maintenance and service company, and numerous animal reproduction business activities.  Currently Dr. Hamilton is the President and CEO of BioDak, LLC.

Corey Kilgore
Secretary of the Board

BS, Psychology, MS Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Corey is a business management and organizational development specialist with emphasis in the areas of business planning and analysis, process and performance management and organizational development.  She began her career with Ernst & Young's Performance Improvement Consulting Division where she worked with various companies from both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries.   From there she spent nine years as an internal consultant and Senior Business Planning Manager for Compaq Computer and Hewlett Packard Corporation.  After leaving Hewlett-Packard in 2003, Corey has held various consulting engagements.  Clients have included Shell Global Solutions, King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management where she continues to serve as an adjunct professor, Home Federal Bank Corporation, South Dakota Game Fish, & Parks Commission, South Dakota State University, and the Texas A&M Executive Program for Agricultural Producers.   She is currently the Director of Business and Organizational Development for BioDak . 

Christine Hamilton

BA, Philosophy, MBA (Entrepreneurship)

Christine holds an external seat as part of the Management Advisory Board.   Christine Hamilton owns and manages a fourth-generation farming and ranching business in central South Dakota.  She serves on several business and civic boards, among them the HF Financial and Home Federal Bank boards, the Great Plains Lamb and Veal board, SDSU Foundation board, and the South Dakota Biotech Association board.  She also owns and manages a wholesale meat business located in a Las Vegas, Nevada.  In 2000, she co-founded MHCH, a family foundation dedicated to promoting vitality in rural economies.   

Eddie Sullivan

PhD, Reproductive Physiology

Eddie serves on both the Management Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Board.  He is  the Chief Operating Officer of Hematech Inc. (Sioux Falls, South Dakota). He worked for several years as a director of a successful human fertility laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona as well as a consultant for an animal diagnostics company in molecular genetics and analytical test development. His research focused on aspects of human and animal embryology and he has worked extensively in the areas of assisted reproductive techniques as well as cloning in animal livestock species with particular interest in applied research. In his current position with Hematech, he has been instrumental in building the company from a small start-up of six employees to a company of over seventy employees that is moving toward preclinical and clinical evaluation of their first genetically engineered animal made human pharmaceutical. He has worked with various committees and discussion groups that have focused on animal biotechnology and has actively participated in the discussions for establishing a federal regulatory framework for this technology. He is chairman of the Animal Biotechnology Policy Committee and a member of the Food and Agriculture Section Governing Board at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).  He is also currently President and founding member of the South Dakota Biotech Association which focuses on biomedical, agricultural and industrial and environmental applications of biotechnology within the state.  He is a husband and father of two children and an active participant in in community and church organizations.

Mark Walton

Dr. Walton is a 30-year veteran of the plant and animal biotechnology industries and has worked as a research scientist, entrepreneur and corporate executive. Mark began his career working with farmers to develop improved alfalfa varieties and from that grass roots position transitioned into the world of agricultural biotechnology. Over the years he has conducted pioneering research in the field of Molecular Breeding and brought new technology to the market through technology licenses, contract research, providing technology services, and product sales.

In 2005 Mark became the President of ViaGen, a leading livestock cloning company in Austin, Texas and led the company through the process of gaining regulatory approval for cloning, added operations and business development teams in Canada and Mexico, and grew revenues ten-fold by providing cloning services to cattle, pig, and horse customers around the world. When he left the company in late 2010 it was expanding its business in South America and preparing to launch ventures in China.

He is a recognized leader in the animal biotechnology industry and has filled leadership roles in the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) where he served as Chair of the Animal Policy Committee, and as a member of both the Food and Agriculture Section Governing Body and the BIO Board of Directors. Mark played key roles in obtaining the Cloning Risk Assessment and the Guidance on Regulation of Genetically Engineered Animals from the US Food and Drug Administration; and participated in the FDA hearings on Genetically Engineered Salmon. Over the past five years he has been in routine contact with governments around the world, serving as an industry voice in the ongoing discussions about the future of animal biotechnology and on several missions organized by the U.S. government. In 2010 he was asked by the German government to participate in discussions on the future of animal biotechnology in that country.

Mark serves on the Board of Managers for BioDak, LLC and is working with the company on research and communication strategies.