Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors
Click on each name below for biographical information about each member of our Board of Directors.
Richard Kaplan — CEO, Director
Mr. Kaplan specializes in startups and corporate turnarounds. He was President and CEO of Pictometery International Corp. from 2000 to 2010. He is also the former President of Richland Industries, Inc., a retail floor covering chain; Chairman and Co-Founder of Resnick Media Associates, Inc., an advertising and marketing agency; Chairman and Co-Founder of Blanton Communications, Inc., a computer software company; President of RAK Realty Corporation, a real estate development company; Chairman and Founder of WorkSmart International, Inc., a human resource development, publishing and training company for multi-market, multinational corporations and organizations. He also served as Chairman and Founder of Maxim Group Inc., a publicly held company previously listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Keith E. Gleasman — President, Vice President - Marketing
Mr. Gleasman is co-inventor, with Vernon E. Gleasman, on all Torvec patents. Mr. Gleasman’s strengths include his extensive marketing and sales executive experience, in addition to his design and development knowledge. His particular expertise has been in the area of defining and demonstrating the products to persons within all levels of the automotive industry, race crew members, educators and students.
Gary Siconolfi — Chairman, Director
Mr. Siconolfi was the Owner and General Manager of Panorama Dodge, Inc., Penfield, New York from 1984-1995 and of Panorama Collision, Inc., East Rochester, New York from 1989-1995. He started and managed the highly successful auto/truck dealership and collision business, building to annual sales of $20 million with five departments and 65 employees.
Dr. William W. Destler — Director
Dr. Destler became President of Rochester Institute of Technology on July 1, 2007. He is the ninth President in the university’s 178-year history. He was formerly senior Vice President for academic affairs and provost of the University of Maryland at College Park.
E. Philip Saunders — Director
Known for both his business acumen and his philanthropic efforts, Mr. Saunders’ ventures are far-reaching and diverse. He was instrumental in reshaping the truck stop industry, taking it from poorly stocked, overgrown gas stations to modern travel plazas with stores, restaurants, and lodging facilities. Mr. Saunders began in 1958 with his father’s gas station, and built it into the Truckstops of America chain, later founding Travel Ports of America, Inc. which merged with Ryder’s TravelCenters of America in 1999. Today, TravelCenters is the nation’s largest chain of truck stops.
John Heinricy — Director
As Director of High-Performance Vehicle Operations, General Motors Performance Division until 2008, Mr. Heinricy was responsible for the planning, development, testing and execution of all the performance versions of GM vehicles, from the Cobalt SS to the Cadillac CTS-V to the Corvette Z-06. He is also a legendary race-car driver, capturing 11 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) national titles. During a recent summer, Mr. Heinricy won six out of six SCCA races, driving a C-5 Corvette equipped with Torvec’s IsoTorque® Differential.
Charles Mills — Director
Mr. Mills founded the law firm of Mills, Schwartz and White in 1967, which later merged to become Bernstein, Mills, Schwartz, White and Bernstein. He primarily concentrated on real estate syndication, venture capital and securities law. Desiring to branch out from his legal career, Mr. Mills ventured into his own real estate development company. As CEO of Crosskeys Corporation, he led the company into many successful ventures, including office parks, high-end office buildings and a commercial mall/plaza. In 2001, Mr. Mills sold most of his real estate holdings, but still manages several prime properties.
Thomas F. Bonadio — Director
Mr. Bonadio is Managing Partner of The Bonadio Group, which he founded in 1978 with one partner and one part-time employee (his mother). Today, with 325 people in six offices, The Bonadio Group has grown to be the largest independent provider of accounting, business advisory and financial services in upstate New York. As founder and managing partner, Mr. Bonadio has been the driving force behind the firm’s growth and diversification, expanding from a firm offering only public accounting and auditing services to a multi-dimensional accounting, business advisory and financial services organization.
General Wesley K. Clark — Director
During 34 years of service in the United States Army, Clark rose to the rank of four-star general as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. After his retirement in 2000, he became an investment banker, author, commentator and businessman. In September 2003, he entered politics as a Democratic candidate for President of the United States. His campaign won the state of Oklahoma before he returned to the private sector in February 2004.
Asher J. Flaum — Director
Mr. Flaum is President of Flaum Management Co., Inc., a full service real estate company that owns and manages a portfolio of several million square feet of commercial real estate – including retail, office, industrial, development projects – while also providing complete real estate brokerage services through its real estate brokerage division.
Thomas J. Labus — Director
Mr. Labus is nationally known as one of the foremost experts in hydraulics, with additional background in fluid mechanics, high-pressure engineering, actuation/controls systems, pneumatics, materials evaluation and mechanical design and analysis. With over forty years experience he brings an incredible wealth of knowledge on both the technical side and the market in the hydraulics industry.
Ronald Zarrella — Special Advisor to the Board of Directors
Mr. Zarrella has held senior level positions with General Motors – where he served from 1994 to 1998 as Vice President and Group Executive for North American vehicle sales, service and marketing – and from 1998 to 2001 as President of General Motors North America. From 1985 to 1994, Mr. Zarrella held executive positions at Bausch and Lomb, including President and Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board. Upon leaving General Motors in 2001, he returned to Bausch and Lomb as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, until his retirement in 2008. He retains the title of Chairman Emeritus of the company.