Management Team
Our Management Team
Richard A. Kaplan — Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Kaplan specializes in startups and corporate turnarounds. He was President and CEO of Pictometery International Corp. from 2000 to 2010, and is 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; and 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.
His broad entrepreneurial and management experience allows him to lead Torvec with extreme skill, as we grow our business, refine our product lines, and forge new and expand existing markets.
Keith E. Gleasman — President, Vice President - Marketing
Mr. Gleasman is co-inventor, along with Vernon E. Gleasman, on all Torvec patents. He has 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 our products and technology to all levels of the automotive industry, race crew members, educators and students.
Robert Fishback — Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Fishback joined Torvec in October 2010 as Chief Financial Officer. In November 2010, he was also appointed Corporate Secretary. Before joining Torvec, Mr. Fishback was an independent consultant, providing executive consulting services to various businesses in all areas of finance and accounting, including financial reporting, process improvements internal controls and financial analysis. From July 2010 through October 2010 Torvec was a client of Mr. Fishback.
Previously, from 1999 to 2009, Mr. Fishback served as Vice President - Finance, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer of Ultralife Corporation, Newark, New York, overseeing corporate growth from $20 million to over $250 million in revenues. He also served as Controller at ITT Industries, Inc. (formerly Goulds Pumps, Inc.), Seneca Falls, New York, and in various corporate financial and operations management positions at Frontier Corporation, Rochester, New York.
Mr. Fishback is a CPA and received an MBA in Finance from SUNY at Buffalo. He spent three years in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche LLP prior to joining the private sector in 1983.
William Mark McVea, Ph.D., P.E. – Chief Technology Officer
Mark McVea is former President and Principal Engineer of KBE+, Inc. an international engineering consultancy firm. The primary focus of KBE+ was automotive powertrain and mechanical power transmission design, development, analysis, test and manufacture. Prior to KBE+ Mark worked for numerous companies and in numerous capacities within the automotive industry, as well as in the construction, agricultural and off-highway market-spaces. His experience base in gear and mechanical systems is extensive and well recognized within the industries. Mark also teaches both at university as well as providing professional development seminars throughout the world. Although KBE+ remains a successful entity, Mark purposely left to become CTO of Torvec based in part on the strength of the technology and the expertise of the core team of people.
Andrew K. Gleasman – Vice President of Sales
Mr. Gleasman has a bachelor’s degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and is the grandson of Vernon Gleasman. He has worked with Torvec since its inception, and has been immersed in company operations since July 2004. Andrew brings first-hand knowledge of Torvec’s products to the automotive marketplace, along with sales and marketing presence.
Joe McMahon – Vice President of Engineering
A 1988 graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical technology, Mr. McMahon has 18 years experience in all phases of automated machining and assembly systems, including concepts, customer proposals, design and project management, including several years experience in design and testing of products at Torvec. His hobby of building and tuning vehicles for drag racing with ETs in the seven-to-nine second range syncs appropriately with Torvec technology.