Our Team

Jerry Arnold	Jeff Ashpitz	Oliver Esman	John Groover	David Leech
Connie Pate	Trevor Pritchard	Chris Schneider	William Strawn

	Jerome M. Arnold, Principal Email : jarnold@strawnarnold.com Office: 512-263-1131 x312; Cell: 512-589-1851 Jerry has 40+ years of management experience in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and health care service industries. For the past 14 years he has focused on the field of executive search, having successfully completed numerous assignments across North America in the life sciences sector. Prior to joining Strawn Arnold Ashpitz Groover, Inc., Jerry held senior level health care management positions including COO of Pharmco LSR; President/CEO of Cibus Pharmaceuticals and Corporate Vice President and General Manager at Burroughs Wellcome Company. In these assignments, Jerry effectively managed all primary functions within the industry as well as being an active member of the Research and Development Committee at Burroughs Wellcome. He has an MBA degree from Suffolk University in Boston and an AB, BS from Merrimack College in Andover, Massachusetts. Additionally, he has an advanced Management Certificate from the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
	Jeff Ashpitz, President Email : jashpitz@strawnarnold.com Office: 512-263-1131 x317; Cell: 512-589-1902 Jeff has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries in the United States, Europe and Asia. His general management expertise covers all areas of business operations including sales, marketing, business development, manufacturing, logistics, finance, information services, human resources, clinical development, regulatory affairs and research and development. He has had a number of senior level executive positions including Vice President, Lederle International; President, Zimmer Europe and President, Davis and Geck. He began his health care career in sales and marketing management with Eli Lilly. Jeff received his BSc from McGill University in Montreal and his MBA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
	Oliver Esman, Executive Vice President Email : oesman@strawnarnold.com Office: 973-335-3125; Cell: 609-203-6732 Oliver has 30 years of experience working with leaders and leadership teams in both US based and global companies. He has worked directly with CEOs guiding companies through the type of changes that are now a permanent part of the pharmaceutical landscape. He has led change by developing organizational structures designed to create market and operational focus, using talent acquisition and talent management to dramatically strengthen scientific, regulatory and managerial talent and building “ best in class” management teams in companies experiencing major growth. He has held senior human resources positions in a variety of industries throughout his career. For the past 15 years he has worked in the pharmaceutical industry, first as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Schein Pharmaceutical and most recently as Vice President of Human Resources for the Sandoz Division of Novartis. Oliver has a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and MBA courses from American University.
	John L. Groover, Executive Vice President Email : jgroover@strawnarnold.com Office: 512-263-1131 x310; Cell: 512-426-5777 Before starting a career in executive retained search in 2003 John spent 22 years in medical devices holding senior management positions with several industry leaders. For five years John served as General Manager then President, CarboMedics, a global leader in heart valve therapy. For three years he ran a $120 million multi-modality business unit for GE Medical, and also spent two years with Acuson, where his business unit exceeded the growth of any other unit worldwide. From 1988 to 1993 John served in executive sales and marketing roles with Baxter Edwards, including assignments in cardiovascular, interventional cardiology and critical care. John began his med-tech career in 1982 with Ethicon, where he was one of the initial hires that resulted in today’s Ethicon Endo. While there he held home office and field management roles of increasing responsibility. John’s unparalleled industry experience has allowed him to forge one of the strongest retained search practices in medical devices. John graduated from Virginia Tech where as a scholarship football athlete he earned a double major in Marketing and Management.
	David M. Leech, Executive Vice President Email : dleech@strawnarnold.com Office: 512-263-1131 x314; Cell: 512-415-6637 David has over 34 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. He has recruited and managed executives in general management, finance, research and development, regulatory and medical affairs, manufacturing, sales, marketing and investor relations. Prior to joining Strawn Arnold Ashpitz Groover, Inc., David held various health care management positions, including President/CEO of Argus Pharmaceuticals; President/CEO, Houston Biotechnology; Vice President, Davis & Geck, Division of American Cyanamid; President, Cyanamid Nordiska and various marketing, sales and general management positions with Sterling Drug. He received his BA in Business Administration/Political Science from the University of Colorado and a Master of International Business degree from the American Graduate School of International Management.
	Connie Pate, Vice President Email : cpate@strawnarnold.com Office: 512-263-1131 x319; Cell: 512-589-1843 Connie has over 25 years of experience in recruiting across the IT, financial services, management consulting and biotechnology industries. She has served as Senior Director of Workforce Planning and Staffing at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, National Director of Recruiting for Ernst & Young’s Management Consulting Practice, National Director of Recruiting for KPMG, Manager of Staffing Services for Aetna, and Manager of College Relations for E-Systems, a division of Raytheon. Prior to working in industry, Connie held faculty and staff positions at the University of Arkansas where she also earned an MA in Communication and an Ed.D. in Higher Education.
	Trevor Pritchard , Executive Vice President Email : tpritchard@strawnarnold.com Office: 805-961-9949; Cell: 805-636-6626 Trevor has over 25 years of line management and leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Since 2002, Trevor brings his senior healthcare leadership to executive search, having successfully completed multiple retained assignments in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and med-tech sectors across all senior functional levels of responsibility. Prior to executive search, Trevor was President at Mentor Corporation, a publicly traded medical devices company. He also held positions of Executive Vice President of International Sales & Marketing and Executive Vice President for Business Development and Strategic Planning for Sherwood/Davis & Geck, a $1 billion medical devices company that was a Division of Wyeth. Trevor began his career at American Cyanamid and then with Wyeth, leading to various executive management roles in both headquarters and overseas locations. Trevor received his BSc. in Economics from Seton Hall University and his MBA from Columbia University.
	Christopher Schneider, Executive Vice President Email : cschneider@strawnarnold.com Office: 512-263-1131 x355; Cell: 512-970-8776 Chris has over 17 years of executive leadership and global general management experience in the medical devices, healthcare services and laboratory diagnostics industries. He has a broad range of functional experience in sales & marketing, clinical affairs, manufacturing and operations. His industry specific experience includes diagnostic imaging, healthcare IT, cardiovascular, urology, anatomical & clinical pathology as well as physician services. Prior to joining Strawn Arnold Ashpitz Groover, Inc., he served as President at HealthTronics, a publicly traded urology products and services company which included a start-up subsidiary, ClariPath Laboratories. Chris served as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for CarboMedics, the cardiac surgery division of Sorin Group, a $1.0 billion global leader in cardiovascular products. For 10 years he held various product management, sales management and general management positions at GE Medical Systems including General Manager of a $180 million diagnostic imaging business unit. Chris has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
	William M. Strawn, Founder (Retired) Bill has 20 years of experience in executive search specializing in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and health services industries. He has completed senior level assignments in all functional areas with emphasis on development-stage venture capital and public company CEO and officer team searches. Prior to executive search, Bill had extensive experience in executive management in the health care industry. He was CEO of Cemax, Inc., a medical device company, and held general management positions at American Hospital Supply Corporation including EVP/Managing Director for International Reagents Corporation located in Japan, and VP/GM for AHSC’s immunochemistry business. Bill has a BS and MS in Biology from Middle Tennessee State University and completed the Advanced Management Program at Pennsylvania State University