Boards & Committees

Elizabeth Pollard, is the CEO and President of The Innovation Foundation at Oklahoma State University and the President of Cowboy Enterprises. The Innovation Foundation is home to OSU’s applied research institutes – the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE), Human Performance & Nutrition Institute (HPNRI), Hamm Institute for American Energy (HIAE) – the Office of Technology Commercialization, and Cowboy Technologies, LLC. 

Pollard is a Silicon Valley C-suite veteran and has extensive global experience scaling businesses, establishing public and private partnerships, and building highly specialized technology, from concept to market, primarily to enable biotechnology. She is recognized as a strategy creator and implementor, advising companies and serving on corporate boards. She is active in YPO and serves as board director (2020-2024) and finance chair (2022-2024) for YPO, a global leadership community of more than 35,000 chief executives representing 150 countries. 

Prior to joining OSU, the Michigan native played a critical role in developing and leading Oklahoma's innovation economy as Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt's Secretary of Science and Innovation. Her cabinet included the award-winning Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST), for which she continues to serve as chair for the Oklahoma Science, Technology, Research and Development Board (OSTRAD). During her tenure, the agency has grown from $17M to $220 M in assets under management, utilized the State Small Business Credit Initiative to create the Oklahoma Venture Capital Investment Program - a fund of funds for in-state equity investment in early stage companies, established the Oklahoma Business Lending Partnership Program to provide low interest loans to Oklahoma businesses, and funded 3 of the world’s most prominent accelerator programs to serve Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and rural Oklahoma (Gener8tor, TechStars, Farm Bureau).  Pollard also served on the Governor’s Workforce Taskforce.

On January 14, 2019, Blayne Arthur was sworn in by Governor Kevin Stitt as the Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture—the state’s first female to hold the position. She acts as Governor Stitt’s chief advisor on policy development and implementation related to agriculture, food and forestry, and holds the titles of Oklahoma Commissioner of Agriculture and the President of the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture.

Secretary Arthur grew up in Chickasha, Oklahoma, where her family raised horses, shorthorn cattle, wheat, alfalfa and soybeans. Arthur and her two sisters, Dr. Rosslyn Biggs and Chelsea Evans, were active in 4-H and FFA, focusing primarily on showing horses and shorthorn cattle — both statewide and nationally. Arthur’s mother, Dr. Peggy Clark, worked for the USDA as a veterinary medical officer. Her father, David Spencer, owns and operates Spencer Livestock, LLC., a family-oriented operation focusing on show horses and cattle, based out of Chickasha.

Upon graduating from Oklahoma State University in 2004, with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, Sec. Arthur took a role in small-business financing for Rural Enterprises, Inc. In 2009, the then-Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach hired her as the department’s social media coordinator. When Secretary Jim Reese was elected in 2011, he offered her the position as the Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture, where she stayed from 2011 to 2016. In 2016, she served as the Executive Director for the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation until her appointment by Governor Stitt.

She is the 2016 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Distinguished Service Award Recipient; remains active in Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Diamond Hats, American Quarter Horse Association, Oklahoma Beef Council, and Ponies of the Americas; and selected for multiple honors including Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program Class XV, a Journal Record 2011 Achievers Under 40 honoree, and the 2014 Oklahoma Agricultural Woman of the Year.

Secretary Arthur married Jerrod Arthur in 2006 and they have two children, Kelton and Kennedy, who both enjoy showing cattle and horses. The Arthur family lives east of Stillwater and raise show cattle for 4-H and FFA members.

Mita Bates is the principal in MAB Advisory LLC, an organization committed to economic and community improvement, strategic planning, and board development. Ms. Bates served as the President and CEO of the Ardmore Development Authority, Ardmore Chamber of Commerce, Ardmore Tourism Authority and Chamber of Commerce Foundation. She served the four organizations for 18 years beginning as the Senior Vice President of Operations the first part of her tenure. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Mita continued her professional education obtaining designations from the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organizational Management as well as Certified Chamber Executive. Under Mita’s leadership, economic development efforts in Southern Oklahoma resulted in major industrial projects choosing Ardmore, as well as significant capital investment by existing industry in Ardmore facilities, ensuring the continued success of the region.

A passionate advocate for the State, Mita has served on several statewide boards – The Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives, Oklahoma Society of Association Executives, Select Oklahoma, the State Chamber as well as the Oklahoma Business Roundtable. In addition to her statewide activities, she is involved in numerous local activities with a passion for education. Mita is a native Oklahoman, member of the Chickasaw Nation and is married with three children and 5 grandchildren.

Sean Bauman, PhD is the President and CEO of IMMY, a diagnostic manufacturing company headquartered in Norman, Oklahoma. For more than 40 years, IMMY has specialized in the development, manufacturing, and global distribution of infectious disease diagnostic tests. These tests have been implemented in thousands of labs in more than 90 countries throughout the world. Dr. Bauman is passionate about improving the survival of patients with infectious diseases through accurate, early diagnosis and proper treatment. This passion has taken Dr. Bauman to many resource‐limited countries where he has seen, first‐hand, those affected by infectious diseases and the real challenges that come from getting each patient a timely, actionable diagnosis. His background is broad, with experience in management, infectious diseases, research and development, and product design. Through his leadership, IMMY continues to increase its impact on patients’ lives throughout the world.

In response to the growing need for more efficient and rapid test results during the early part of 2020, Dr. Bauman also became the President and CEO of IMMYLabs, a high complexity CLIA laboratory providing COVID‐19 diagnostic testing and vaccine administration. IMMYLabs is one of the largest COVID‐19 testing and vaccine providers in Oklahoma.

Dr. Bauman is a graduate of Norman High School, the University of Oklahoma with a BS degree in Chemistry, and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center with a PhD degree in Microbiology and Immunology. He resides in Norman with his wife, Renee, and their three children, Brynn, Brooke, and Luke.

Dr. Thomas Kupiec is CEO of ARL Bio Pharma and DNA Solutions. Dr. Kupiec received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center College of Pharmacy. He currently serves on the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) Board of Directors, the National Safety Council Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division Board, The Foundation Board of Trustees at the University of Central Oklahoma, Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, and the National Advisory Board for the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy. He has served as a graduate faculty member at the OU Health Sciences Center and has held teaching appointments at several universities. He has published numerous articles and abstracts in a variety of fields including pharmaceutical sciences, forensic sciences, and pharmacogenomics. Dr. Kupiec is often requested as a guest lecturer and a speaker at national and regional pharmaceutical conferences.

Dr. Kupiec’s vision of entrepreneurial research is manifested by his responsibilities at ARL Bio Pharma and DNA Solutions as a technical and business development leader in the pharmaceutical and forensic fields. Additionally, he provides consultation and expert witness testimony in the fields of forensic toxicology and pharmaceutical sciences including litigation, patent infringement, and medication errors. He has testified in over 100 cases in state and federal courts involving both civil and criminal issues, for prosecution as well as defense.

Colonel Daniel Marticello is the President and CEO of CymSTAR LLC.  CymSTAR, located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) established in 2003 to build, upgrade and maintain military training systems including flight simulators and maintenance procedure trainers.  Col. Marticello joined the company in the role of President and CEO in September 2018.

Prior to joining CymSTAR, Col. Marticello served for over 26 years in the US Air Force and retired in the grade of Colonel.  Prior to his military retirement, Col. Marticello served as the Air Force’s Program Manager for the new Air Force One (VC-25B) procurement and modification program.  He also led Air Force Materiel Command’s Simulators Division for three years where he led a team of 430 personnel executing a $1.9 billion budget across 52 training system programs. As an electrical and flight test engineer, he managed and executed flight test programs supporting the F-117 Nighthawk and the F-15 Eagle weapon systems.

Col. Marticello is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, the University of Colorado, the US Air Force Test Pilot School, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Col. Marticello served in Afghanistan as part of the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A).  His military decorations include the Legion of Merit (1^st Oak Leaf Cluster) and the Bronze Star.