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Chad Johnson has a long and varied career in the legal industry. In 2006, they began their career as an Associate Patent Attorney at Suiter Swantz IP, where they advised clients on obtaining and leveraging intellectual property and prepared and prosecuted patent applications and patent office actions. In 2007, they joined DuPont Pioneer as a Corporate Counsel, providing general commercial legal support to a business unit with annual sales in excess of $400MM. In 2015, they moved to Renewable Energy Group, Inc. as Senior Corporate Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary, where they were responsible for overseeing a team with several direct reports, focusing on managing the company’s diverse intellectual property portfolio, supporting domestic and international acquisitions, and performing internal compliance investigations. In 2017, they joined Stine Seed Company as Vice President, General Counsel, responsible for managing all aspects of the legal department for the largest privately owned seed company and the fourth largest seed company overall in the United States. In this role, they advised the CEO and other c-suite level colleagues on a wide range of high-value corporate negotiations, investments, and acquisitions; managed complex litigation matters with related public facing communications; and oversaw the development and implementation of document management processes designed to maximize company efficiency. In 2018, they joined Smart Ag as a Board Member and also joined NewLink Genetics as an Independent Director. In 2020, they joined Lumos Pharma as an Independent Director.

Chad Johnson obtained a B.S. in Agronomy from Iowa State University between 1996 and 2000. Chad then went on to pursue a M.S. in Crop Production and Physiology from Iowa State University, which they completed in 2004. Johnson then attended Drake University Law School, where they obtained their J.D. in 2006. In February 2022, Johnson obtained a Certified Corporate Directorship from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).