Jim Von Ehr | CEO and Founder

Jim Von Ehr is the CEO and Founder of Zyvex Labs, LLC. He is also Chairman of the Board of Zyvex Performance Materials, Inc., and Managing Director of Zycraft Pte. Ltd. (in Singapore), and Gray Tiger Holdings Ltd. (in Hong Kong).

Jim is recognized as a respected leader within the nanotechnology industry. His commitment to nanotechnology is evidenced by his significant personal contribution to establish the University of Texas at Dallas NanoTech Institute. He has also endowed the James Von Ehr Distinguished Chair of Science and Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas, most recently held by the late Dr. Alan G. MacDiarmid (2000 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry). He co-founded the Texas Nanotechnology Initiative in December, 2000.

Jim was awarded Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in June 2003. The Entrepreneur Of The Year® Institute celebrates the accomplishments of the world’s great entrepreneurs and increases public awareness of the benefits these innovators provide to our society.

In the Spring of 2003, Jim testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for Bill S.189, The 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act. He was then invited to the Oval Office to be present when President Bush signed the Bill into law on December 3, 2003. He was also an invited member of the Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group (NTAG) to the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

In November 2004, Jim received the Ernest Randall Economic Development Leadership Award from the Richardson (Texas) Chamber of Commerce. The prestigious award is presented to a Chamber member who provides distinguished services to Richardson by building the economic base of the city. He was named Richardson's Citizen of the Year in 2008.

In May 2006, Jim created the “James Von Ehr Scholars Program” at Michigan State University. This endowment provides four-year scholarships to sixteen engineering undergraduates who demonstrate financial need and an awareness of how free enterprise, liberty, and the rule of law work together to create wealth and well-being in society.

In August 2009, he was honored by becoming the recipient of Tech America’s “Texas Legend” award, an honor awarded to only two other people to date.

Before founding Zyvex in 1997, Jim was the founder, president, chairman and CEO of Altsys Corporation, which developed FreeHand and Fontographer, the first commercially available PostScript drawing program. Altsys was sold to Macromedia in 1995, where he held a seat on the Macromedia Board of Directors for nearly four years.

Jim has a M.S. in Mathematical Sciences (Computer Science) from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Michigan State University. He was awarded Distinguished Alumni awards from both Michigan State University and the University of Texas at Dallas in October 2004. In May 2006, he was awarded the Computer Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award and the Claud Erickson Award (Michigan State University’s highest Engineering Alumni award).

Professional Experience

• Founder, Zyvex group of companies. (1997), Zycraft (2011), Gray Tiger Holdings (2013)

• VP of Product Development/Java, and Director of Macromedia. Managed a small group defining Java-based next-generation multimedia authoring tools for the Internet, leading to web authoring tool DreamWeaver. (1996–1997)

• Vice President & General Manager, Digital Arts Group, and Director of Macromedia. Managed the former Altsys group developing the desktop publishing programs FreeHand, Fontographer, and xRes. (1995–1996)

• CEO and Chairman of Tetragon. Tetragon was a spin-off of Altsys Corporation, developing games originally for the 3DO game system, and the Sony PlayStation. (1993–1995)

• President, Renner Plaza Properties: property management company created to own and manage commercial real estate. (1992–2000)

• President, Chairman & CEO, Altsys Corporation. Founded Altsys to develop graphics applications for personal computers. After developing several major products, which achieved total worldwide sales of over $100M in the company’s 10 year history, the company was sold to Macromedia in January 1995. (1984–1995)

• Manager in Design Automation Department, Texas Instruments, and Senior Member of Technical Staff. Managed a group that developed three generations of CAD tools for integrated circuit layout over an 11 year period. (1973–1984)

Education

• New Buffalo High School (1968)
• BS in Computer Science from Michigan State University (1972)
• MS in Mathematical Sciences (Computer Science), University of Texas at Dallas (1982)

Awards

• Tech America’s “Texas Legend” Award (2009)
• Richardson Texas Citizen of the Year (2008)
• Collin County: People of Influence (2008)
• Computer Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award: Michigan State University (2006)
• Claud Erickson Award: Michigan State University (2006)
• Ernest Randall Economic Development Leadership Award: Richardson TX Chamber of Commerce (2004)
• Distinguished Alumni Award: Michigan State University (2004)
• Distinguished Alumni Award: University of Texas at Dallas (2004)
• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2003)

Patents

• 5,361,333: System and method for generating self-overlapping calligraphic images
• 5,353,396: System and method for generating complex calligraphic curves
• 5,434,959: System and method of generating variable width lines within a graphics system
• 5,467,443: System and method for automatically generating derived graphics elements
• 5,594,855: System and method for generating real-time calligraphic curves
• 6,887,450: Directional assembly of carbon nanotube strings
• 6,987,277: System and method for picking and placing of nanoscale objects utilizing differences in chemical and physical binding forces

Affiliations

• Board of Advisors, The O'Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom (2012–Present)
• Trustee, The Seasteading Institute (2012–Present)
• Board of Directors, Competitive Enterprise Institute (2010–Present)
• Advisory Board, Texas Institute (2010–Present)
• Advisor / Councilor, Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association(2009–Present)
• Board of Directors, UT Dallas FUSION (2008–Present)
• Board of Directors, Varaha Systems, Inc. (2008–2010)
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Zyvex Performance Materials (2007–Present)
• Board of Directors, 10C Technologies, Inc. (2007–2009)
• Editorial Advisory Board, Nanotech Briefs (2006–Present)
• Board of Advisors, Institute for Policy Innovation (2006–Present)
• International Advisory Committee, National Center for Nanoprocess and Equipment in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (2006–Present)
• International Advisory Committee, Institute of Precision Engineering of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2006–Present)
• Industrial & Community Affiliates Board, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texas (2005–Present)
• University of Texas at Dallas Development Board (Member:2002-Present, Chairman: 2005–2010)
• Board of Directors, STARTech Early Ventures (2005–2015)
• Board of Directors, FLOW, Inc. (2005–2010)
• Board of Directors, Atomate Corp. (2005–2009)
• Presidential Advisory Committee, University of Texas Center for Nano and Molecular Science & Technology (2005–2010)
• International Advisory Panel of the National University of Singapore Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative [NUSNNI] (2004–Present)
• Editorial Advisory Board [EAB] of R&D Magazine’s Micro|Nano Newsletter (2003–Present)
• Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group [NTAG] to the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology [PCAST] (2003–2008)
• Industrial Advisory Board, Jonsson School of Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas (2002–2011)
• Board of Directors, Texas Nanotechnology Initiative (2001–Present)
• Board of Directors, Metroplex Technology Business Council (2001–2011)
• Member, IEEE (1998–Present)
• Member, AAAS (1996–Present)
• Board of Directors, Foresight Institute (2007–2008)
• Advisory Board, University of North Texas College of Engineering (2004–2007)
• Board of Directors, TissueGen, Inc. (2005–2007)
• Research Advisory Board, University of Texas at Dallas (2002–2007)
• Consulting Professor, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China (2002)
• Advisory Professor, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (2002)
• Guest Professor of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun, China (2001–2002)
• Board of Directors, North Texas Technology Council (2000–2002)
• Strategic Partners Council, Computer Science and Engineering Department, Michigan State University (1997–2005)
• Board of Directors, Macromedia, Inc. (1995–1999)

Publications

• Contributing author, “Commercializing Micro-Nanotechnology Products” edited by David Tolfree and Mark J. Jackson (2008)
• Author of numerous Zyvex white papers and co-author of several technical papers
• Co-author of paper titled “Assembler Construction by Proximal Probe” presented at the Fifth Foresight Conference on Nanotechnology (1997)
• Contributing author, “Real World PostScript,” edited by Steve Roth (1998)
• Puzzle and sound effects designer of the 3DO videogame Gridders (1994)
• Developer of Rollup, a font utility for building Japanese, Chinese, and Korean typefaces (1993)
• Co-developer of the program Aldus FreeHand, a powerful, professional illustration program for the Macintosh and Windows (1987)
• Instigator and principal author of the Encapsulated PostScript File Format (EPSF) specification used to exchange graphics data between desktop publishing applications (1987)
• Co-developer of the program Fontographer, a PostScript font editor for the Macintosh, which was the first commercially available PostScript drawing program (1986)
• Co-developer of the program FONTastic, a bitmap font editor for the Macintosh (1985)
• Developer of two games for the Texas Instruments Home Computer: Sneggit and Slymoids (1983)

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