MOUNT PLEASANT – Central Michigan University Research Corporation’s Board of Directors has selected former Dow executive Ken Van Der Wende as the new CEO of its research park. He starts April 1.
Van Der Wende comes to CMU-RC with more than three decades of experience with The Dow Chemical Company, most recently having served as the global commercial director for indirect sales, where he was responsible for $7 billion in revenue across the companies’ plastics and chemicals portfolios.
His tenure with Dow included work in finance, investor relations, sales, marketing, business development, business management and various commercial roles such as market research and communications.
Van Der Wende also is a seasoned entrepreneur. He started the largest northern New Jersey retail produce store, an industrial cleaning business, a ski teaching device company and an auto delivery service. He has taught Wharton case studies and has served as an international guest lecturer and as an American Marketing Association national marketing plan judge.
“I am confident that Ken Van Der Wende will be able to take CMU-RC to the next level,” said Janine Janosky, vice provost for research, served on CMU-RC’s selection committee. “The breadth of his private sector research experience demonstrates that he is a results-driven, successful leader.”
Van Der Wende holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and education from Calvin College. He also has completed an executive finance program from the Wharton School of Business in addition to executive education at IMD, a leading global business school in Switzerland.
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