Board of Executives

Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science
University of California, Davis

The Board of Executives of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science will provide strategic advice and leadership from diverse perspectives in the wine, brewing and food industries and help build support for the Institute and its programs.

Robert Boynton was born and raised on the family dairy farm in Ferndale, CA (Humboldt County).  He received his B.S. and M.S., respectively from UC Davis in Animal Science (1971) and Agricultural Economics (1974).  In 1978 he was awarded a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University.

From 1978 to 1982 Bob was an Assistant Professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN and from 1982 to 1984, an Associate Professor (with tenure) at Cornell University in Ithaca.   Bob served as Executive Director of the Dairy Institute of California in Sacramento, CA, a voluntary membership trade association representing virtually all milk and dairy product processors with operations in California, from 1984 to 1993.  The Institute represented members in regulatory and legislative venues and conducted economic analyses on policy alternatives.  From 1993 to January of 2009 Bob served as Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Leprino Foods Company in Denver, CO where he was responsible for the marketing and sales of Italian cheese and whey products worldwide from nine U.S. plants (three in California).  He retired from Leprino Foods Company in January of 2009.

Paul Coletta is formerly Chief Marketing and Brand Officer for Jamba Juice, the world’s leading juice and smoothie retailer with over $450mm in system wide sales.  As part of the senior leadership team, Paul helped transition Jamba to a publically traded company and develop brand partnerships with Nestle USA and Nike.  In his role he leads brand strategy, product innovation, licensing, marketing and the in-store customer experience. 

Paul brings over 20 years of consumer brand development experience from retail and packaged goods companies.   Prior to Jamba, Paul held senior leadership positions with The Walt Disney Co., Viacom/MTV, and Hewlett Packard. 

Paul lives with his wife Catherine and their children Ryan and Jenni in Orinda California.

Darrell Corti is a second generation Californian and an internationally known wine expert and force in the development and growth of the California wine industry.  
He was a catalyst in the re-evaluation and renaissance of zinfandel and other wine varieties grown in the Sierra foothills of California.  He has been a leader in advocating wider use of Italian varieties of grapes in California. 

Mr. Corti is widely consulted by experts in the wine and food industry for his opinions on wines and food; ie., olive oil, Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale with notable quotes in recent editions of New York Times and Fortune Magazine.  He is a contributing Editor of Saveur Magazine.  
Mr. Corti sits on several tasting panels for regional, state, national, and foreign wine competitions, is a member of several wine and food societies, notably American Society of Enologists and Medical Friends of Wine.  Among his many honors are Bacco d’Oro awarded by the Italian Government Institute of Foreign Trade in recognition for his work promoting quality Italian wines; Who’s Who of Cooking honoring leaders of America’s Culinary industry; WAFIE awarded from the American Institute of Wine and Food; Cavaliere in the Ordine al Meriot della Republica Italiano awarded by the President of the Italian Republic, just to mention a few of his numerous recognitions. 

During recent years Mr. Corti has been a guide for the Smithsonian tours to Italy, and over the past 15 years has been an escort for wine, food, and olive oil tours to Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal. 

Mr. Corti is fluent in several languages with a degree in Spanish and Italian from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California.  He also studied a year at the University of Madrid in Spain.

Greg Drescher is the Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), and creator of the college's influential Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival, the annual Worlds of Healthy Flavors Leadership Retreat presented in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as other CIA "think tank" initiatives. In the early 1990's, he jointly spearheaded a collaboration of some of the world's leading health experts and organizations—including the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition and the World Health Organization, European Regional Office—in researching and authoring the "The Traditional, Healthy Mediterranean Diet Pyramid." In May 2005, Greg was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America, and in 2006 was honored with Food Arts magazine's Silver Spoon Award.

Greg Fowler is Senior Vice President, Operations, of Constellation Wines U.S.  In this position, he oversees production and winemaking.

With nearly 30 years of experience in the wine industry, Fowler joined Icon Estates in 2003 from Sterling Vineyards, where he was senior vice president of winemaking and operations. Fowler began his career at Firestone Vineyards in Santa Ynez, where he worked as assistant winemaker to the legendary André Tchelistcheff during the winery’s startup from 1976 to 1979. He spent the next eight years as winemaker at Schramsberg Vineyard.

Fowler then joined Mumm Napa Valley, where he was vice president of Seagrams Chateau and Estates for 10 years, before being named senior vice president. At Mumm Napa Valley, he grew the company’s sparkling wine business from 12,000 cases to more than 250,000 cases over a 10 years period.

Fowler holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fermentation Science from UC Davis, 1976.

Al Giuliani  is the retired President and Chief Operating Officer of Ready Pac Produce, a premier marketer and processor of fresh-cut salads, fruit, and vegetables. Under his leadership Ready Pac went through a period of significant growth and expansion, including the successfully launches of Fresh-cut Fruit and Bistro-To-Go-Salads. He is now serving on a number of selective boards outside the company.
Al has spent more than 35 years with food and beverage branded packaged goods companies where he gained a broad spectrum of senior management experience in fresh-cut produce, confectionery, dairy, wine, frozen and canned products businesses. 

Early in his career Al worked 7 years for Quaker Oats. Then from 1976-1979 he was Director of Operations for Heublein-United Vintners Wines Group, where he managed three wineries in United Vintners Central Valley operations.

Al joined Mars, Inc. in 1979. Over the next 11 years he held numerous senior management positions with Mars in the U.S. and Europe at Uncle Ben’s Foods, M&M Mars, Dove Ice Cream, and Master Foods B.V.-The Netherlands. He served as V.P. Manufacturing, V.P. R&D, V.P. New Business Development, and President.

Prior to joining Ready Pac Produce Al spent 7 years in the Food Service Industry with Rykoff-Sexton Inc. (now US Foodservice). He was Executive Vice-President Rykoff-Sexton Inc. and President Rykoff-Sexton Manufacturing Division with responsibility for the production, marketing and sales of over 1500 food and non-food products from 5 manufacturing plants.

Al received his B.S. degree in Food Science and Technology from University of California; Davis in 1967, and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California in 1969. He was born in San Diego, California. Al and his wife Margaret have two grown sons and two grandchildren.  

Clay Gregory  has more than 20 years of broad experience in the luxury, super and ultra-premium segments of the wine industry.  He is currently CEO of the Napa Valley Destination Council, which has as its mission to work in partnership with community stakeholders to maximize the economic, cultural and social benefits generated by tourism while being attentive to the effects of tourism on the agricultural foundation and natural environment of Napa County.  From 2004-2009 he served as President of Jackson Family Wines, a collection consisting of more than a dozen independently operated wineries and brands in prestigious California winegrowing regions such as Napa Valley, Sonoma, Monterey and Santa Barbara County as well as International wineries in St. Emilion, Chianti, Australia and Chile.

Prior to his current position, Clay was President of the Napa Valley Vintners and the Napa Valley Wine Auction.  The NVV has more than 350 member wineries and is dedicated to promoting and protecting the Napa Valley to media, trade and consumer audiences. 

Gregory’s role with the NVV was preceded by his position of Vice President and General Manager of Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley, California. Prior to his stint at Robert Mondavi, Gregory spent more than six years at Motorola, Inc., in Cupertino, California as a Marketing Manager for the company’s Computer Systems division.  Previous to Motorola, Clay demonstrated his early love of wine through two years of “doing almost everything” at Congress Springs Vineyards, a small, family-owned winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. 

Born in Manhattan Beach, California, Gregory grew up in northern California. He received his undergraduate and M.B.A. degrees from San Jose State University, with a concentration in Marketing.

Clay is currently on the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Vintners and served previously as President of the Oakville Winegrowers.  He lives with his wife, three Basset hounds, four sheep, three goats and two hens in Napa.

Jane Killebrew-Galeski graduated from UC Davis in 1981 with a degree in Food Science, focused on the Brewing curriculum.  She worked for four years at the Pabst Brewing Co and then joined Anheuser-Busch in 1985.  She has held a variety of positions in brewing, human resources and product development areas.  Over the past 24 years, Galeski has worked at the Jacksonville, Florida; Ft. Collins, Colorado; and St. Louis, Missouri breweries. 

Today, Galeski is Director of Innovation for the North American Zone of Anheuser-Busch InBev in St. Louis, Mo.  Her overall responsibility is developing new products from concept to market.  She also has responsibility for the Michelob Brewing Co which is the small scale brewery focused on new product development and training of future Brewmasters.  

She enjoys cooking, reading and keeping up with the activities of her husband, two sons and two step-daughters.

Margaret Lawson, Vice President of Science & Innovation at D.D. Williamson, is recognized as a food industry leader.  D.D. Williamson Inc., which operates ten manufacturing sites on five continents, is a trusted and recognized global provider of caramel plus a broad spectrum of natural color solutions to improve the allure of foods and beverages through visual appeal.  
In her role with D. D. Williamson, Margaret resolves scientific and regulatory challenges in conjunction to leading high profile, customer specific, and product development projects.  Her technical and global managerial career has focused on specialty functional food ingredients, namely colors, flavors and stabilizers, including incorporating culinology® into the product development process.  She has led global teams to resolve technical challenges in support of the business plan by communicating complex issues simply. 

Margaret served as the President of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in 2005 – 2006.  The IFT exists to advance the science of food to ensure a safe and abundant food supply contributing to healthier people everywhere.  Founded in 1939, it is a non-profit scientific society with 22,000 members from 110 countries working in food science, technology and related professions in industry, academia and government. 

Margaret was named an IFT Fellow in 2001 for her career contributions to food science and technology.  In 2007 the Southern California Institute of Food Technologists Section (SCIFTS) awarded Margaret with its Distinguished Achievement Award.  

Margaret earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Food Science & Technology from the University of California, Davis.  In addition she serves on the Ohio State Food Science Industrial Advisory Board and previously participated on the Purdue FS&T Industrial Board.  Margaret also serves on the Board of Advisors for Xengaru Fun Foods, a Southern California healthy snack food start-up company.

Harold McGee writes about the science of food and cooking. He started out studying physics and astronomy at the California Institute of Technology, and then English literature at Yale University. In 1984 he published On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Twenty years later, the revised and enlarged edition of On Food and Cooking was named best food reference of 2004 by the IACP and the James Beard Foundation. In 2005, Bon Appétit magazine named McGee food writer of the year. In 2008, Time Magazine named him to its annual list of the world’s most influential people. He writes a monthly column, “The Curious Cook,” for The New York Times.

Glenn E. Nedwin is Executive Vice President of Technical Enzymes, Genencor Division of Danisco. Glenn joined Genencor in October 2007, with over 26 years experience in the biotechnology industry. He started his career as a Post-doctoral Fellow at Genentech, Inc. and spent 11 years on the pharmaceutical side of biotechnology in various companies including Molecular Therapeutics, Inc. (a Bayer AG company) and Xoma Corporation. Glenn then spent the next 15+ yrs in industrial biotechnology, where as President of Novozymes Inc, he co-founded and ran Novozymes’ US R&D headquarters, as well as being active in business development.

Glenn heads Genencor’s division activities in Grain Processing, Fuel Ethanol, Textiles and other Industrial Markets.

He received his B.S. degree from the State University of New York, Buffalo and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside.  In addition, Glenn holds a Masters Degree in the Management of Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is Co-Editor in Chief of the Industrial Biotechnology Journal.
Glenn currently serves as the Chair of the Robert Mondavi Institute Board of Executives.

Warren Quilliam has been employed in the brewing industry for the past 28 years, the majority of that time spent with the South African Breweries (Now SABMiller), and more recently with MolsonCoors in Golden, Colorado.

Warren graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa with a degree in Microbiology, and immediately joined the brewing industry where he has been ever since. During this time, Warren has filled management positions in brewing, packaging, quality, and more recently, corporate technical functions. He has also had the privilege of being involved in the design and commissioning of a number of breweries including SAB’s Roslyn, Alrode and Ibhayi breweries in South Africa, and more recently, MillerCoors’ Shenandoah brewery in the United States.

Based in Colorado where he lives with his wife and two daughters, Warren currently holds the position of Vice President, Quality for MillerCoors, where he oversees total Supply Chain quality for the organization.

Jean-Michel Valette  is currently chairman of Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc (Nasdaq: PEET) located in Emeryville, CA. Peet’s is a leading roaster and seller of highest quality coffee and teas with over 200 stores and $400mm in annual revenue.  Mr. Valette is also chairman of Vinfolio, Inc, San Francisco, CA, a privately held fine wine retailer and provider of collector services.  Vinfolio is one of San Francisco Business Times 100 fastest growing Bay Area companies.  Other directorships include:  Boston Beer, Inc (SAM), Boston, MA; Select Comfort Inc, (SCSS), Minneapolis, MN; and The Institute of Masters of Wine, London.
Previously, Mr. Valette was Managing Director and Chairman of the Robert Mondavi Winery, Oakville CA; CEO of Franciscan Estates, Rutherford, CA; and Managing Director, Hambrecht & Quist, Inc., San Francisco, CA

Mr. Valette earned a B.A. in German Literature and Economics in 1980 and an M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems in 1981 from Stanford University, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa.  He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1985. He is fluent in both German and French.

Mr. Valette is an avid mountain climber who has scaled several of the world's tallest summits including Mt. Everest. He has two children and lives in Kentfield, CA with his wife of 22 years, Janet.