Dr. Gary Schwendiman
Co-Founder and Senior Advisor
Dr. Gary Schwendiman is Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of CEC. He specializes in
research on economic and other issues related to biofuels, including analysis of
oil and gasoline production, feedstock production, vehicle production and technology
as well as new technologies for producing biofuels.
As Senior Advisor, he heads the research efforts for CEC and has written many proprietary
research reports on biofuels and related topics for investors of CEC. He develops
research reports on biofuels for investors, placement agents, broker-dealers, and
private investment groups affiliated with CEC.
Dr. Schwendiman is among the most knowledgeable in the United States about biofuels.
He has followed developments in biofuels since 1980, when a business acquaintance
of his built one of the first biofuel refineries in Nebraska in 1980. He has extensive
experience evaluating microeconomic and macroeconomic factors involved in biofuel
production and profitability.
He contributes a depth of knowledge about national and international factors impacting
biofuel demand, production and sales. He has an exceptional ability to conceptualize
and evaluate complex multiple variables, including the future impact of technology
and economic factors which will determine the production and use of biofuels. He
has developed models for conceptualizing the future demand for biofuels, incorporating
multiple variables impacting the global supply and demand for biofuels.
He graduated cum laude (with honors) from Washington State University in 1962 and
received his master’s degree in 1970 and his doctoral degree in 1971 from Brigham
Young University. Dr. Schwendiman served as an associate professor at the General
Motors Institute of the General Motors Corporation from 1972 to 1973. He conducted
educational classes, gave invited lectures throughout the General Motors Corporation,
completed research studies, and was a consultant to various divisions and top management
of GM. His experience at GM gives him valuable insight into all types of vehicles
and engines.
From 1973 to 1988, he did consulting work for Chief Executive Officers and Boards
of Directors of the Farm Credit Services of America. The Farm Credit Services of
America has provided more than $100 billion in loans to farmers, ranchers and cooperatives
involved in agriculture, including private and cooperative biofuel refineries. During
this period of time, he gave more than 50 presentations and seminars to farm groups
and agribusiness leaders.
In 1977, at the age of 37, Dr. Schwendiman became Dean of the College of Business
Administration at the University of Nebraska, a prominent land grant and leading
agricultural university. He provided leadership and supervision for 70 professors,
2,700 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students and 140 doctoral students. The
college included the departments of Accounting, Actuarial Science, Economics, Finance,
Management and Marketing. While serving as Dean of the College of Business Administration,
he co-founded an Agribusiness Program that offered bachelors and graduate degrees
in Agribusiness Finance, Agribusiness Marketing, Agribusiness Management, Agribusiness
Accounting, and Agribusiness Economics. He founded eight study-abroad programs,
led the effort to build a new building for the college, completely revised and significantly
upgraded the undergraduate and graduate curricula, raised academic standards, and
started 30 other new programs for the college in his 17 years as dean.
Dr. Schwendiman is the co-editor of two books on Japanese Management: Management
by Japanese Systems (published by Prager Press) and Japanese Management: Cultural
and Environmental Considerations (published by Prager Press). From 1990 to 1997,
he served as one of 15 U.S. business representatives to be a member of the Board
of Governors of Beta Gamma Sigma, which oversees the business affairs of the 370,000
member organization of U.S. business college graduates who finish in the top 10
percent of their class and receive the high academic honor of membership in Beta
Gamma Sigma. He served as Chairman of the Beta Gamma Sigma Investment Committee
from 1992 to 1995.
Dr. Schwendiman has over 25 years of experience analyzing information for private
investment partnerships. He has significant contacts and working relationships with
key players at all levels nationally and internationally to gather and analyze relevant
data for predictive models.
From 1983 to 1993, he managed and was General Partner of PRIMA L.P., a commodity
pool. In 1992 and 1993 he was a registered Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) and was
also a member in such capacity of the National Futures Association (NFA), the self-regulatory
organization for the commodity futures industry.
Dr. Schwendiman has been on the board of directors of several companies, including
the National Bank of Commerce and its related entity, First Commerce Investors,
from 1986 to 1992. First Commerce Investors managed bond and stock investments totaling
$400 million. From 1995 to 1999, he was on the Board of Directors for The Gallup
Organization, which conducts and publishes the results of the Gallup Poll worldwide,
and publishes management books that are regularly on the top-ten list of the bestselling
books in the nation. From 1987 to 2002 he was on the Board of Directors of InaCom,
Inc., a computer reseller with billions of dollars in sales that sold computers
and related equipment almost exclusively to Fortune 500 corporations. Additionally,
he served on the board of directors and the investment committee of Security Mutual
Life Insurance Company, which had assets of $600 million.
From 1991 to 1998, he accepted a yearly renewable appointment by the Chairman of
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as one of six public service members nationwide
to serve on the Savings Association Insurance Fund Advisory Committee which reported
directly to the House and Senate Banking Committees.
In 1994, he stepped down as Professor and Dean of the College of Business Administration
at the University of Nebraska to devote his full time to investments. In 1995, he
formed Schwendiman Partners, LLC, with Todd Schwendiman. Schwendiman Partners’ flagship
fund, the Frontiers Market Fund, had a total of $50 million invested throughout
the Eastern European and Southeast Asian markets.
In 2003, he began to devote full-time to investments in clean energy, and co-founded
CEC, with Scott Brittenham, a former Wall Street executive. Dr. Schwendiman brings
a depth of knowledge and experiences to CEC as evidenced by his 17 years as Dean
of the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska and nine
years as manager of private limited partnerships. His proven ability to analyze
information obtained from a wide variety of individuals, groups, companies, and
research organizations will be extremely valuable to CEC. In addition, his worldwide
business and academic contacts provide a wide base of knowledge which can be applied
to make CEC more successful. Dr. Schwendiman has given invited lectures in many
countries of the world over the past 30 years.
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