NFT 's full-time executive, Conrad Masterson, is a "serial entrepreneur" currently living in Houston.  He has been involved in six early-stage companies in Dallas and Houston, where he has held executive positions ranging from general manager to CEO.  In addition to his having served as the director of several companies, Masterson is also one of the founders of the Houston Technology Center.   He now serves as an advisory board member for the Houston Technology Center .  Masterson holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma. Masterson is assisted by a board of directors, a team of Champions, a Scientific Advisory Board and a group of volunteers statewide.

The founding Board of Directors is composed of John S. Furst, Marc H. Folladori, and Conrad Masterson.

Furst is the former partner in charge of the Coopers & Lybrand regional tax practice (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) and a member of their governing board.  Furst was with C&L for 45 years with a 15-month break in service to act as vice president of corporate development for a regional supermarket chain.  He has been trustee for several large trusts and consulted with numerous prosperous clients.  The Dallas resident has also served on several professional, charitable, and community boards.  Since his retirement, he has helped launch four companies.  Furst holds a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University.

Folladori has served over 27 years as an attorney and partner in the firms of Haynes and Boone, Fulbright & Jaworski and Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw .  Folladori has been active in civic organizations in Dallas and Houston. He has written numerous articles, spoken at many seminars, and lectured at various universities during his career.  Folladori holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and a Juris Doctorate degree from Southern Methodist University.

Another group of supporters are those people called Champions.  A Champion is someone who will step forward in some way to say figuratively, "I believe in NFT and its goal to make Texas the Silicon Valley of the 21st century."  A Champion may provide an independent validation of NFT's plan to someone who is unfamiliar with nanotechnology, NFT or the NFT leaders.  They may also help in introducing nanotechnology to other community leaders.  NFT Champions include:

• Lloyd Bentsen, venture capitalist;

• Louis Brousseau, Quantum Logic Devices founder and president;

• James Calaway, CEO of The Center for Houston's Future;
• Deborah Cannon, president of Houston Zoo;
• Steve Currall, a Rice University professor of management also who leads Rice's commercialization program, the Rice Alliance;
• Larry Faulkner, president of the University of Texas;
• Paul Frison, CEO of the Houston Technology Center, former CEO of three publicly-traded life science/technology companies;
• Malcolm Gillis, University Professor of Rice University;
• Neal Lane, professor and senior fellow in the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and former director of the National Science Foundation and former science advisor to the president;

• Matt Simmons, Simmons & Company;
• Juan Sanchez, vice president of research, The University of Texas at Austin;

• Marc Shapiro, J.P. Morgan Chase;
• Kenneth Williams , senior vice president Frost National Bank.
  

Two members of the Board of Champions have died.   The state lost two great science and technology visionaries.

• Richard Smalley, Nobel Laureate, discoverer of carbon fullerenes, professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University;
• George Kozmetsky, founder Teledyne, former dean of business school at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), founder UT technology think tank, IC2.

Scientific Advisory Board

The Foundation has a group of 16 advisors who help select recipients of our grants and fill other advisory roles.  This Board includes:

• Gary Beall, Texas State University;
• Ronald Elsenbaumer, The University of Texas at Arlington;
• Wolfgang Frey and Brian Korgel, The University of Texas at Austin;
• Ray Baughman and Bruce Gnade, The University of Texas at Dallas;
• Viktor Hadjiev, Pradeep Sharma, Peter Vekilov and David Zimmerman, University of Houston;
• Yildiz Bayazitoglu, Rebekah Drezek, Jeffrey Hartgerink and Bruce Weisman, Rice University;
• Susan Hardin, Visigen Biotechnologies;
• Richard Wilkins, Prairie View A&M University.

Former members of the Science Advisory Board who have helped in the past include:

• Michael Barry, Baylor College of Medicine;
• Naomi Halas, Rice University
• Latika Menon; Northeastern University;
• Morteza Naghavi, American Heart Technologies;
• James Versalovic, Texas Children's Hospital;
  
  

Volunteers

Finally, NFT has a group of over 40 volunteers who are working on various projects for NFT. These projects include fund raising, web development and maintenance, marketing, Nano Summit planning and logistics, and preparing a directory of university research.  Additionally, we have over 16 university point people who help us navigate various universities and medical schools when needed.


> Visit our Volunteer Page