Michael can help companies develop the business case for starting a lignin project, including processes for recovering and purifying lignin and marketing approaches for sales of lignin products. After getting his PhD from Clemson, Michael joined Westvaco in Charleston SC in 1974. Michael worked for 34 years in a variety of technical and managerial positions developing and marketing new products and processes for natural products from trees, focusing on lignin, rosin, and fatty acid but including sterols and levulinic acid. During an insightful five years, Michael led a group of ten professionals who gleaned “near miss” opportunities during Westvaco’s history with lignin-based products, starting when Westvaco first started manufacturing and selling lignin in the 1940’s. For the last 12 years, Michael has been a consultant for a wide variety of clients spanning four continents. One of Michael’s clients referred to him as the “Godfather of Lignin”.