 |
Advisory Council
The Sorrento Ventures Funds draw on the experience and contacts of our Advisory Council. Composed primarily of limited partners in the Sorrento Funds, each member is a prominent business or academic leader from San Diego who share a high interest in emerging San Diego businesses.
The Advisory Council enhances the ability of the Sorrento Funds to identify and evaluate potential investments through their substantial referral network.
The Advisory Council has much to offer to companies invested in our Funds:
- Guidance in evaluating prospective investments
- Management assistance
- Business introductions and contacts
However, all investment and other decisions relating to the operation of the Sorrento Funds are the sole responsibility of the General Partner.
Malin Burnham (Chairman)
Chairman of John Burnham & Co. (San Diego's leading real estate, mortgage
loan and insurance company) and Burnham Pacific Properties; Founder and
Director of First National Bank; Trustee of The Burnham Institute; Former
Director of San Diego Gas & Electric Company, Cubic Corporation and
Gen-Probe, Inc.; Former Trustee of Stanford University; President of America's
Cup Organizing Committee.
Art Brody
Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Brodart Company (a manufacturer
and distributor of school and library supplies and equipment and an operator
of retail book stores); Chairman and President of BDI Investment Corp.
(a regulated investment company) and Tura, Inc. (an eyeglass frame manufacturer
and distributor).
Brian Chew
Director of Investments for the $5 billion Pension Plan, Nuclear Decommissioning
and Post-Retirement Medical Benefit Trust for Sempra Energy; finance Committee
member for the San Diego Opera Association; Investment Advisory Council
for the $1.2 million San Diego Opera Endowment.
Kenneth Olson
Former Chairman and ECO of Proxima Corporation; Former Chairman and CEO
of Topaz, Inc.; Director of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Applied Digital Access,
Atcom Corporation, Digirad Corporation, Laser Power Corporation and International
Forum of Corporate Directors; Instructor at UCSD Extension in "How
to Start and Finance a High-Tech Company"; Mentor for Chairmen's
Roundtable.
Thomas A. Page
Chairman of San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Enova Corporation;
Former Chairman of San Diego Economic Development Corporation; Director
of Burnham Pacific Properties, Inc. and the San Diego Chamber of Commerce;
Member of the Board of Overseers of the University of California, San
Diego; Trustee of The Burnham Institute; Member of the California Business
Roundtable.
Peter Preuss
Former President and Chairman of ISSCO (Integrated Software Systems Corporation);
Founder of the Preuss Foundation, Inc. (specializes in fostering communication
among scientists in the field of cancer); Director of DepoTech Corporation,
DOME Imaging Systems, Inc., Network Computing Devices, Inc. and Wright
Strategies, Inc.; Regent for the University of California; Former Member
of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of
Health; Director of BIOCOM, The National Brain Tumor Foundation, Duke
University Cancer Center Board of Overseers; Member of the Board of Overseers
of the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. M. Lea Rudee
Professor of Materials Science and Former Dean of Engineering at the University
of California, San Diego; Guggenheim Fellow Recipient at Cambridge University;
Visiting Scientist at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown
Heights, NY; Member of the Materials Research Society and the Electron
Microscope Society of America.