Board of Directors

Dr. Joseph Ward, New Distillers Grains Technology Council Director

Joseph W. Ward, PhD

Distillers Grains Technology Council

Executive Director

Dr. Joseph W. Ward, Executive Director

The Board of Directors has named Dr. Joseph W. Ward as the Executive Director of the Distillers Grains Technology Council effective January 1st, 2024. Dr. Ward has served the DGTC as a member of the Board of Directors for many years and has provided significant contributions to the DGTC and industry.

Dr. Ward was born and raised on a livestock farm in Indiana.  Active in 4-H and FFA throughout his informative years. He attended Purdue University earning a BS in Animal Science and MS in Ruminant Nutrition. He also earned a Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in Ruminant Nutrition. As an animal nutritionist, Dr. Ward has consulted, published, and lectured in Europe, the Far East, Australia, and South Africa. He has served on several executive boards of directors including the Distillers Grains Technology Council. He has been active in animal production agriculture, manufacturing, and processing since the early 90’s. Dr. Ward has been involved in research activities that promote holistic animal health and improved production practices using bio-functional ingredients and co-products arising from the ethanol and bio-refinery industry. Working at the forefront of the diversification of co-products, he has worked closely with bioprocessing facilities on manufacturing, quality testing, and market development for these ingredients. Most recently, he was a Senior Nutritionist for Fluid Quip Technologies in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Donna Willis, President, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Donna Willis

Jack Daniels Distillery

President

Donna M. Willis, President

Director – Technical Services, Maintenance, Barrel Distribution
Jack Daniel Distillery

Donna Willis joined Brown-Forman in 2006 as a Process Engineer in Research & Development and spent the next 3 years supporting innovation and upgrades in post maturation processing.  From R&D, she transitioned to production operations and has spent the last 14 years broadening and deepening her operational skills in distilling, warehousing, processing, and bottling within many of Brown-Forman production locations.  In 2021, she joined the Jack Daniel Distillery team as Director – Technical Service, Maintenance, Barrel distribution. 

Willis earned a Bachelors and Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering and has a Certification in Environmental Engineering.  She resides in Wartrace, TN with her husband and three children.

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Jackie Lissol, Vice President, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Jackie Lissolo

ICM, Inc.

Vice President

Jackie Lissolo, Vice President

Jackie Lissolo serves as the Regulatory Affairs Manager at ICM, a leading technology provider in the ethanol industry. She holds a B.S. in Feed Science and Management as well as a B.S. in Animal Science from Kansas State University. With over 15 years of experience in feed and food regulation, Jackie brings a wealth of expertise to her role.

Prior to joining ICM in January 2006, she held positions in quality assurance at Southern States Cooperative’s corporate Feed Division and worked in the R&D Pathogen Laboratory at Cargill Meat Solutions. While Jackie’s professional focus is on feed product manufacturing, she also participates in horse shows with the American Paint Horse Association, earning both regional and national recognition.

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Brian Heikes, Secretary, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Brian Heikes

POET

Secretary

Brian Heikes, Secretary

Brian Heikes joined POET in 2005 and currently serves as the Director of Operations and Regulatory Affairs for POET Bioproducts. His responsibilities include operational oversight to POET Nutrition’s Quality and Regulatory compliance operations and management of POET Bioproducts railcar fleet. 

Prior to his current position, Brian Heikes was the Senior Distribution Operations Manager for POET Nutrition.

Before joining POET Nutrition, Heikes’s career included three years of Quality Control experience with Archer Daniels Midland (corn wet milling facility) and 10+ years of Quality Control Management experience within POET’s bioprocessing facilities and POET Plant Management. In these positions, he oversaw fermentation, laboratory operations and plant quality systems. 

Heikes received his Bachelor of Science in biological science from South Dakota State University. Heikes is married and has two children.

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Dr. Scott Tilton, Treasurer, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Scott Tilton, PhD

The Andersons, Inc.

Treasurer

Dr. Scott Tilton, Treasurer

Dr Scott Tilton is the Food Animal Nutritionist and Technical Sales Advisor for The Andersons, Inc. He joined The Andersons in 2020 to support their development and marketing of new high protein ethanol co-products. Prior to this he served as Manager of Nutrition Services for Flint Hills Resources (now Poet) where he led research efforts to develop their fermented corn protein product.  

Dr Tilton obtained his PhD in Monogastric Nutrition from The University of Nebraska in 1997.  Dr Tilton is actively involved in coordinating research to demonstrate the value of novel distillers feed products and communicating this information to industry nutritionists. He currently serves as Treasurer of The Distillers Grains Technology Council. Scott has been married to his lovely wife Lydia for over 26 years and enjoys restoring antique cars and trucks in his spare time.       

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Cole McCreary, Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Cole McCreary

Beam Suntory

Board Member

Cole McCreary, Board Member

Hello, my name is Cole McCreary and I am a technical research scientist for Beam Suntory. I am based out of Clermont, KY and was born, raised, and attended college in the Bluegrass state. As the current sustainability chair for the DGTC I have a passion for making the distilling industry a greener place to be.

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Bob Miller, Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Bob Miller

BetaTec Hop Products

Board Member

Bob Miller, Board Member

After high school, Bob joined the Navy and volunteered for submarine duty. While completing two ballistic missile submarine patrols he earned his dolphins, signifying qualifications in submarines. He participated in a competitive selection process and was subsequently selected to take part in a college program where he attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and was awarded his BS in Mechanical Engineering. After leaving the Navy, Bob worked for Florida Distillers in Winter Haven, FL where he was the Vice President in charge of production at several facilities including those that produced distilled spirits, wine, and vinegar.

Bob next moved over to the ethanol world by accepting the plant manager position at E Energy Adams in Nebraska. While there, Bob founded the industry-wide, ethanol plant managers group.

After leaving E Energy Adams, he returned to Florida where he resides today. He remains active in his community via a variety of volunteer positions including acting as a Docent at the National Navy UDT-SEAL museum. He is also working as a consultant, primarily for BetaTec Hop Products company.

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Peter Williams, Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Peter Williams

Fluid Quip Technologies

Board Member

Peter E.V. Williams, Board Member

BSc MSc PhD Emeritus Professor

For the past 15 years Peter has led the nutrition program on the corn fermented protein project, latterly with Fluid Quip Technologies and Green Plains Inc. Peter is Senior Nutritionist with FQT and CEO of AG-Bio Ltd, his Ag business and nutrition consultancy. With a long international experience of new product development in the animal and aqua feed industries, his experience spans research activities in both academia and industry.

He trained at the Rowett Research Institute in Scotland, was R&D Director of Adisseo, launching both Smartamine and the Rovabio enzymes and senior Project lead at Syngenta, responsible for in planta expression of enzymes and the scientific and business evaluation of a JV.

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Janet Remus, Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Janet Remus, PhD

IFF

Board Member

Janet Remus, PhD, Board Member

Danisco Animal Nutrition & Health/IFF

Janet Remus holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture/Animal Science from the University of Nebraska as well as a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Animal Science (nutrition/physiology) from the University of Missouri.  She is currently Senior Technical Director North America with Danisco Animal Nutrition & Health/IFF.

Her work is across species and spans applications of enzymes, natural betaine and direct fed microbials (probiotics) into feed and/or premix applications for integration, compound feed manufacturers or premixers as well as nutritional support to IFF’s Grain Processing/Biofuels business. She is an enthusiastic seeker of knowledge where nutrition and physiology intersect in the gut!

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Bill McDonald, Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Bill McDonald

Greenfield Global Inc.

Board Member

Bill McDonald, Board Member

Bill McDonald is the Director of Agricultural Sales at Greenfield Global. He is a versatile leader known for his creative approach and attention to detail. In his role, he is responsible for all aspects of sales and marketing of the company’s agricultural products. Bill brings more than 20 years of experience driving growth and success in animal feed and nutrition, field crop production, and coproducts of both corn refining and ethanol production. Prior to joining Greenfield, Bill held positions at companies such as Ingredion and Blue Seal Feeds and was also a member of the Farm Credit Customer Service Council.

Bill holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Carleton’s Sprott School of Business and a Diploma in Agriculture from McGill University.

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Jeff Bell, Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Jeff Bell

The Scoular Company

Board Member

Jeff Bell, Board Member

Jeff Bell is a Sr Trader for The Scoular Company. Jeff has over 15 years of experience of feed ingredient trading with a focus in the distillers grain space.  Throughout his career Jeff has worked with numerous ethanol plants, distilleries, and breweries assisting them with their co-product offtake programs. Jeff’s focus has been to help create a value added approach to his suppliers co-products. Jeff has been a board member on the DGTC since 2023 and is looking forward to helping the council grow and serve the industry.

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Stephanie Gleason, PH.D., Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Stephanie Gleason, PhD

Phibro Ethanol Performance Group

Board Member

Stephanie Gleason PhD, Board Member

Stephanie Gleason, Ph.D. is the Director of Global Technology for Phibro Ethanol. She is a yeast microbiologist, specializing in yeast physiology and metabolism during fermentation. She has applied this experience to the beverage and fuel ethanol industries over the last decade and has provided technical support and guidance to brewers, winemakers, and industrial ethanol producers. In her role at Phibro, Stephanie is responsible for leading the Phibro Ethanol product development and laboratory services groups in a collaborative effort to provide quality technical solutions to ethanol producers. 

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Joel West, Board Member, Distillers Grains Technology Council

Joel West

Novita Nutrition

Board Member

Joel West, Board Member

Vice President of Sales & Merchandising

Joel West is a veteran in the agribusiness space bringing more than 25 years of experience in grain origination, renewable fuels, commodity trading and streamlining operations across multiple geographies as well as export markets.

Prior to joining Novita, Mr. West was the Director of Grain Procurement at Valero Energy Corporation for 13 years where he built the agribusiness division and established it on a trajectory of growth. He led and optimized the enterprise-wide grain origination and transportation system to create a robust, reliable and highly efficient agribusiness infrastructure supporting 14 ethanol plants across the Midwest. He developed and launched the agribusiness operations, risk management systems, farmer-focused programs and launched new products into the marketplace. Through Mr. West’s leadership, he developed cost effective solutions and delivered overall savings to the bottom line by reducing grain handling costs and evaluating new growth potential for the business.

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