Complete 2012 forensic audit documents - Kansas Bioscience ...

• Tom Thornton – President, Illinois Technology Development Alliance
• Mark Wdowik – Executive Director, Office of Technology Transfer, University of North
Carolina
Although the documentation provided by Brill Neumann indicates the individuals were
interviewed for two separate positions, Mr. Brill indicated that all five were interviewed for the
KBA CEO/President position. Mr. Brill indicated that the goal was to hire the KBA
CEO/President position first and then fill the Kansas BioEnterprise position at a later date. That
is, in fact, what occurred.
Interviews of these five candidates were conducted in Kansas City on May 1 – 3, 2006 by KBA
Directors Clay Blair, Dolph Simons, Jr. and Bill Sanford, all members of the Search Committee
as well as the Executive Committee. Messrs. Blair, Simons and Sanford narrowed the five
candidates to the final two, Tom Thornton and Mark Wdowik. Additional interviews of
Thornton and Wdowik took place on May 25, 2006 in Washington, D.C. with Directors
David Franz, Dan Glickman and Clay Blair. Mr. Blair indicated that Director Jim Barone
interviewed Thornton during the process as well.
Mr. Blair stated that the BOD was interested in attracting federal research funding to Kansas.
Therefore, the BOD was interested in a candidate with experience in Washington who knew how
Washington worked. Mr. Thornton’s experience in Washington was viewed very favorably, and
set him apart from other candidates. Mr. Nick Brill of Brill Neumann stated that Thornton’s
Washington experience was a factor in his hiring. However, another significant factor was that it
was perceived that Mr. Wdowik would be difficult to successfully recruit. Mr. Brill indicated
that Mr. Wdowik’s wife was a professor and the KBA Search Committee discussed that it was
likely a position would need to be located for her in order for Mr. Wdowik to accept an offer
from KBA. Ultimately, Thornton was recommended to the full BOD. 33
In the July 13, 2006 BOD meeting, Mr. Blair stated that he expected the announcement of the
new CEO/President of KBA to be forthcoming in a matter of weeks if not days. At the
October 12, 2006 BOD meeting, Tom Thornton was introduced as the President/CEO of KBA.
Allegations Related to Tom Thornton’s Employment History
Allegations have been made with regard to Mr. Thornton’s employment history, specifically
related to his employment on Representative Dennis Hastert’s staff and his employment by
divine interVentures. The allegations related to Thornton’s employment by Hastert are that
Thornton misrepresented that he was employed by Hastert while Hastert was Speaker of the
House, and that Thornton inflated the importance of his responsibilities on Hastert’s staff. The
allegations related to Thornton’s employment by divine interVentures are that he was directly
involved in that company’s financial downfall and ultimate demise. Therefore, BKD reviewed
Thornton’s employment history based on his resume as received from Brill Neumann, publicly
available information and an interview with Jude Sullivan, the former General Counsel of divine
interVentures.
33 The BOD and Executive Committee minutes do not reflect the recommendation or a vote.
36