Leadership

Michael J. HenniganPresident and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Hennigan is president and chief executive officer of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He is also chairman of the board and president and chief executive officer of MPLX GP LLC.

Prior to joining MPLX GP LLC in 2017, Mr. Hennigan was president, crude, NGL and refined products of the general partner of Energy Transfer Partners L.P. Prior to that, he served as president and chief executive officer of Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. He was responsible for all operations and business activities, including setting the direction, strategy and vision for the company.

Mr. Hennigan began his career with Sunoco, Inc. in 1981 at the Marcus Hook refinery, working in various engineering and operations positions before joining the business planning department in 1990. In 1992, he transferred to the Philadelphia refinery before joining the corporate business planning group in 1993. There, he worked on various strategies for northeast refining before returning to Marcus Hook as business manager in 1996. In 1998, he returned to Sunoco’s corporate office as manager, financial analysis and strategic planning. In 2000, he was named general manager, northeast refining wholesale fuels marketing and product supply and in 2001 was appointed vice president, product trading, sales and supply. In 2006, Mr. Hennigan was appointed senior vice president, supply, trading, sales and transportation and senior vice president, business improvement in 2008. Mr. Hennigan joined Sunoco Logistics as vice president, business development in 2009. He was named president and chief operating officer in 2010 and was appointed president and chief executive officer in 2012. In 2017, Mr. Hennigan was named president of MPLX GP LLC and in November 2019 was named president and chief executive officer. He assumed his current position on March 18, 2020.

Mr. Hennigan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Drexel University.

Mr. Hennigan serves on the board of directors of Marathon Petroleum Corporation and MPLX GP LLC.

Timothy T. GriffithPresident, Speedway LLC

Mr. Griffith is president of Speedway LLC.

Prior to joining Marathon Petroleum in 2011, Mr. Griffith served as vice president and treasurer of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, where he had executive responsibility for the company's investor interface and treasury operations, including capital structure, cash management, insurance and investment oversight. Mr. Griffith has also served as vice president and treasurer of Cooper-Standard Automotive, as assistant treasurer of Lear Corporation, as the capital planning officer for Comerica Incorporated and as a derivatives specialist with Citicorp Securities. He was vice president, Finance and Investor Relations, and treasurer of Marathon Petroleum before being named senior vice president and chief financial officer in 2015. He assumed his current position in 2019.

Mr. Griffith earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Michigan State University in 1991 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1997. He is also a chartered financial analyst, a designation he has held since 1995. He attended the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in 2013.

Mr. Griffith is a member of Michigan State University’s Broad College alumni board.

Raymond L. BrooksExecutive Vice President, Refining

Mr. Brooks is executive vice president, Refining of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He is also senior vice president of MPLX GP LLC.

Mr. Brooks joined Marathon in 1979 as a chemical engineering co-op. In 1983, he started a progression of technical and management positions at Garyville, Robinson, Texas City, Catlettsburg, St. Paul Park, and Galveston Bay refineries. He was named the general manager for the St. Paul Park refinery in 2006, Robinson refinery in 2010 and Galveston Bay refinery in 2013. He was named senior vice president of refining in 2016 and assumed his current position in 2018.

Mr. Brooks earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1983 and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of New Orleans in 1988. He has completed management development programs at Rice University and the Kellogg School of Management.

Mr. Brooks is a member of the American Petroleum Institute (API) refining subcommittee and a member of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM)/API process safety advisory group. He is a current member of the University of Cincinnati Engineering College Advisory Council.

Glenn M. PlumbyExecutive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Speedway LLC

Mr. Plumby is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Speedway LLC (Speedway).

Mr. Plumby began his career with Marathon in 1981. He held various accounting and marketing positions until transferring to Emro Marketing Company, the predecessor of Speedway, in 1994, where he served as Pricing and Light Product Acquisition director. He was appointed vice president of Light Product Marketing in 1998, and vice president of Marketing from 2002 to 2009. From 2010 through 2017, Mr. Plumby held various vice president/senior vice president positions before being appointed senior vice president and chief operating officer for Speedway in 2018. He was named to his current position in 2019.

Mr. Plumby graduated from Miami University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and earned an MBA from the University of Toledo in 1985. Mr. Plumby attended the Indiana University Executive Education Program in 1993 and attended the Wharton School Advanced Management Program in 2012.

Mr. Plumby serves on the board of governors for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. He is a member of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) board while also serving on the NACS Research Council. Mr.

Donald C. TemplinExecutive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Templin is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Prior to joining Marathon Petroleum in 2011, Mr. Templin was the managing partner of the audit practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. While at PwC, he had more than 25 years of experience providing auditing and advisory services to a wide variety of private, public and multinational companies. Mr. Templin joined PwC in Pittsburgh in 1984. While at PwC, he went on to serve in London, Kazakhstan and Baltimore before assuming his position in Atlanta in 2009. He was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer of Marathon Petroleum in 2011 and took on the incremental role of chief financial officer of MPLX GP LLC in 2012. Mr. Templin was named executive vice president, Supply, Transportation and Marketing of Marathon Petroleum in 2015. He was appointed executive vice president of Marathon Petroleum and president of MPLX GP LLC in 2016 and president of Marathon Petroleum in 2017. In 2018 he was named president, Refining, Marketing and Supply. He assumed his current position in 2019.

Mr. Templin is a graduate of Grove City College, a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He attended the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in 2012.

Mr. Templin serves on the board of directors of MPLX GP LLC. He previously served on the board of directors of Calgon Carbon Corporation until its sale in March 2018. Mr. Templin is a member of the Grove City College Board of Trustees. He is also a member of the downstream committee of the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Suzanne GagleGeneral Counsel

Ms. Gagle is general counsel of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. She is also general counsel of MPLX GP LLC.

Ms. Gagle began her career with Marathon in 1992 as a staff attorney. After various assignments in the Law organization, she transferred to Marathon Ashland Pipe Line LLC in 2002. In 2003, Ms. Gagle returned to the Law organization as group counsel, litigation, and in 2010 was promoted to senior group counsel, downstream operations. She was appointed assistant general counsel, litigation and Human Resources in 2011. In 2012, Ms. Gagle led the legal team in an initial public offering of common units representing limited partner interests in MPC’s master limited partnership, MPLX LP. She was named vice president and general counsel of MPC in 2016 and assumed her current position in 2018.

Ms. Gagle earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Toledo in 1987 and Juris Doctor from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1992. She completed the Executive Development Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2013.

Ms. Gagle currently serves on the board of directors of the Blanchard Valley Health Foundation and as a member of the University of Toledo paralegal studies advisory board. She is a former Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northwest Ohio board member.

Fiona C. LairdChief Human Resources Officer

Ms. Laird is chief Human Resources officer of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. 

Ms. Laird joined MPC in 2018, where she leads the company’s Human Resources function. Most recently, she served as chief Human Resources officer at Andeavor. Prior to that, Ms. Laird was the chief Human Resources and Communications officer for Newell Brands. Previously, Ms. Laird served in many HR, communications and legal positions over a 25-year career at Unilever. Her latter responsibilities at Unilever were as executive vice president global Human Resources based in London; and as senior vice president, Human Resources and Communications for Unilever’s North and Latin American geographies. Prior to joining Unilever, Ms. Laird practiced law at the New York law firm of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon; and in the Cleveland office of Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur LLC.

Ms. Laird is a graduate of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, where she completed a double major program in English and history. She holds a Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

From 2013-2018, Ms. Laird was a non-executive director of N. Brown Group PLC, a leading United Kingdom clothing, footwear and household goods retailer, where she chaired both the Remuneration and Corporate Social Responsibility Committees. 

C. Tracy CaseSenior Vice President, Western Refining Operations

Mr. Case is senior vice president, Western Refining Operations of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Mr. Case joined Marathon in 1982. He worked in various process engineering and refinery operations assignments at the Garyville and Robinson refineries from 1982 until 2000, including Product Control manager and Technical Services manager at Garyville and Operations supervisor at Robinson. In 2001, Mr. Case was named manager Refining Asset Development where he oversaw development of all refining capital projects including the Garyville major expansion and mandated clean fuels programs. He was named manager, Terminal, Transport, and Marine in 2008. Mr. Case was named general manager of the Robinson refinery in 2009, the Detroit refinery in 2010 and the Garyville refinery in 2014. He assumed his current position in 2018.

Mr. Case earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineer from Oklahoma State University. He completed the Executive Development Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2007.

Richard A. HernandezSenior Vice President, Eastern Refining Operations

Mr. Hernandez is senior vice president, Eastern Refining Operations of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Mr. Hernandez joined Marathon in 1990 at the Garyville refinery. He held positions in engineering and management before moving to Marathon Oil’s upstream organization where he worked in Gulf of Mexico operations in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Houston. In 2000, Mr. Hernandez joined the Terminal, Transportation & Marine organization in Findlay, Ohio. He was appointed Ashland district manager in 2001 and Marine Transportation manager in 2002. Mr. Hernandez was named Maintenance manager of the Catlettsburg refinery in 2004 before being named to the same position at the Garyville refinery in 2006. In 2010, he was appointed director, Refining Reliability and PSM based in Findlay. Mr. Hernandez was named general manager of the Catlettsburg refinery in 2013 and general manager of the Galveston Bay refinery in 2016. He was named to his current position in 2018.

Mr. Hernandez earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2011.

Rick D. HesslingSenior Vice President, Crude Oil Supply and Logistics

Mr. Hessling is senior vice president, Crude Oil Supply and Logistics of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He is also senior vice president of MPLX GP LLC.

Mr. Hessling began his career with Marathon in 1990, as a lessee marketing representative in Michigan. In 1994, he was named acquisition specialist and jobber marketing representative in Michigan. Mr. Hessling relocated to MPC’s Findlay, Ohio, office in 2000 where he was named Midwest exchange negotiator and domestic spot crude oil trader in 2001. In 2002, he was named Marketing coordinating manager and distillate pricing manager in 2004. In 2005, Mr. Hessling was named brand southern district manager in Atlanta. He returned to Findlay in 2011 as crude oil and logistics analysis manager. Mr. Hessling was appointed manager, crude oil and natural gas supply and trading manager in 2014. He was named to his current position in 2018. 

Mr. Hessling graduated with a bachelor’s degree in production management and marketing from Central Michigan University. He attended the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in 2012.

Ehren D. PowellSenior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer

Mr. Powell is senior vice president and chief digital officer of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Prior to joining MPC, Mr. Powell was the vice president and chief information officer of GE Healthcare. He was responsible for ensuring business value through technology systems and processes that provide transformational medical technologies and solutions to the global healthcare industry.

Mr. Powell began his career at GE in 2000 as a member of the GE Aviation IT leadership program. While at GE and its subsidiary companies, he had 20 years of experience holding several executive IT leadership roles with increasing responsibility. In 2005, he was named the IT leader for services, global enterprise resource planning, and business intelligence platforms for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. In 2010, he joined GE Transportation as the chief information officer of services and in 2014 became senior vice president and chief information officer of power services with GE Power. Mr. Powell was named senior vice president and chief information officer of services for parent company GE in 2017.

Mr. Powell has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, management and information systems from the University of Cincinnati.

John J. QuaidSenior Vice President and Controller

Mr. Quaid is senior vice president and controller of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. 

Prior to joining Marathon Petroleum in 2014, Mr. Quaid served as vice president of iron ore for U.S. Steel, where he had responsibility for all aspects of iron ore mining operations. While at U.S. Steel, Mr. Quaid also served as vice president and treasurer where he had executive responsibility for all of U.S. Steel's treasury functions, including capital markets, corporate finance, cash and banking, credit and collections and insurance.  He also served as a member of the United States Steel and Carnegie Pension Fund’s investment committee.

Mr. Quaid began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) in the audit and assurance practice and was promoted to manager in 1998. While at PwC, he served a number of major companies in the steel, oil and gas, networking technology and consumer products industries. In 2000, he joined FastForward Inc., an enterprise marketing software developer and service provider startup company as corporate controller. In 2002, Mr. Quaid joined U.S. Steel as manager of Investor Relations. In 2004, he advanced to director of Facility Marketing and Business Planning and was responsible for sales and operations planning activities. In 2005, he relocated to Serbia after being named director of Finance for the former U.S. Steel Serbia with responsibility for accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax, and treasury. Mr. Quaid returned to the U.S. in 2007, to serve as a lead project manager for U.S. Steel's enterprise resource planning project. He advanced to assistant corporate controller in 2008, and was named controller, North American Flat-Rolled Operations in 2010. Mr. Quaid was elected vice president and treasurer in August 2011, and assumed the role of vice president iron ore at U.S. Steel in 2014.

Mr. Quaid graduated from Lehigh University in 1994, with a Bachelor of Science business and economics degree in accounting.

David R. SauberSenior Vice President, Labor Relations, Operations, Health and Administrative Services

Mr. Sauber is senior vice president, Labor Relations, Operations, Health and Administrative Services of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Mr. Sauber joined Marathon Petroleum in 2017 as vice president, Human Resources and Labor Relations, after having retired from Shell Oil Company as vice president, Human Resources Policy, Benefits and Services. He began his career at Shell in 1989, in the company’s exploration and production organization. After having worked in the company’s refining and chemicals businesses, Mr. Sauber was named manager, Human Resources/Industrial Relations at Shell’s Deer Park refinery. In 2000, he was named manager, Industrial Relations for Shell Oil Products U.S. and was named Human Resources manager for the Convent and Norco refineries in Motiva Enterprises, a joint venture between Shell Oil and Saudi Aramco, in 2003. Mr. Sauber returned to Shell Oil Products U.S. in 2005, as Industrial Relations/Employee Relations manager and was named regional Human Resources manager for U.S. manufacturing in 2009. He served as the lead negotiator for the oil industry national oil bargaining with the United Steel Workers in 2009 and 2012. Mr. Sauber was appointed vice president, Human Resources Policy, Benefits and Services for Shell in 2013. He was named senior vice president, Human Resources, Health and Administrative Services in 2018 and assumed his current position, also in 2018.

Mr. Sauber holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Central Michigan University and a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations from Michigan State University. He attended the Cornell University-INSEAD Strategic Human Resources Program in 2004. 

Mr. Sauber is a member of Michigan State University’s School of Human Resources and Labor Relations Advisory Board and the Blanchard Valley Health System Human Resources Committee.

David L. WhikehartSenior Vice President, Light Products, Supply and Logistics

Mr. Whikehart is senior vice president, Light Products, Supply and Logistics of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He is also senior vice president of MPLX GP LLC.

Mr. Whikehart began his career with Marathon in 1981, as a project/process engineer at the Robinson refinery. He transferred to the corporate refining organization in 1987, as a refining staff engineer. Mr. Whikehart served as an operations supervisor at the Detroit refinery from 1990 to 1992, and product control manager for the Robinson refinery from 1992 to 1995. He was named staff operations manager, Refining in 1995, light products optimization manager in 2000, and director, Business Development in 2008. Mr. Whikehart was named director, climate change and carbon management in 2010, and director, product supply and optimization in 2011. He was named vice president, Corporate Planning, Government and Public Affairs in 2016, and vice president, Environment, Safety and Corporate Affairs, also in 2016. Mr. Whikehart assumed his current position in 2018.

Mr. Whikehart graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1981. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Bowling Green State University in 2006. He attended the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and is a graduate of the Wharton School Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Whikehart serves on the Owens Community College foundation board and the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Molly R. BensonVice President, Chief Securities, Governance and Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary

Ms. Benson is vice president, chief securities, governance and compliance officer and corporate secretary of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. She is also vice president, chief securities, governance and compliance officer and corporate secretary of MPLX GP LLC.

Ms. Benson began her career with Marathon as a tax attorney in 1998. She was named Government Affairs manager in 2001 and joined the Law organization as an operations attorney in 2003. Ms. Benson was promoted to senior attorney, downstream business in 2006 and to group counsel, North American production for Marathon Oil Company in Houston in 2010. Ms. Benson was named Marathon Petroleum Corporation group counsel, Law - Corporate and Finance in 2011 and assistant general counsel, Law - Corporate and Finance in 2012. She assumed her current position in 2016.

Ms. Benson graduated from The Ohio State University in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1997. She completed the Executive Development Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2014.

Ms. Benson currently serves on the board of counselors for the University of Findlay and the board of directors for the Hancock Properties Foundation.

David R. HeppnerVice President, Commercial and Business Development

Mr. Heppner is vice president, Commercial and Business Development.

Mr. Heppner joined Marathon in 1988, where he held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility, including design engineer, construction engineer and project manager. In 1995, Mr. Heppner transferred to Emro Marketing Company, the predecessor of Speedway LLC, where he held various positions including project manager; environmental and maintenance manager, southern division; purchasing and commercial services manager; business development manager; director construction, environmental, maintenance and purchasing and commercial services; director of engineering services, and vice president of operations. In 2010, he was appointed director, wholesale marketing at MPC. In 2014, Mr. Heppner was appointed vice president of transition at Speedway. He was later named senior vice president of engineering services and corporate support at Speedway. He assumed his current position in 2018.

Mr. Heppner graduated from Ohio Northern University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Illinois. Mr. Heppner attended the Wharton School Advanced Management Program in 2013.

Mr. Heppner serves as president of the United Way of Clark, Champaign and Madison Counties board of trustees. He recently served as the vice president of membership for the Boy Scouts of America, Black Swamp Council and was the campaign chairman for the Clark County March of Dimes. Mr. Heppner is a past member of the Children’s Miracle Network’s Board of Governors and Dayton Children’s Hospital Foundation board of trustees. He is a past member of Wright State University College of Engineering and Computer Science External Advisory Board.

Thomas KaczynskiVice President, Finance and Treasurer

Mr. Kaczynski is vice president, Finance and treasurer of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Prior to joining Marathon Petroleum in 2015, Mr. Kaczynski served as vice president and treasurer of The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, where he had responsibility for all treasury related activities including capital markets, cash management, bank and rating agency relations and insurance. While at Goodyear, Mr. Kaczynski also served as vice president, investor relations. Mr. Kaczynski began his career as a design engineer with Caterpillar Inc. In 1992, he joined Ford Motor Company, starting as a financial analyst and progressing through numerous positions of increasing responsibility within the company's finance and treasury organizations. In 2000, he joined Visteon Corporation as part of the company's spin off from Ford where he held several positions within corporate treasury, including director of affiliate financing and of capital markets and bank relations. In 2004, Mr. Kaczynski joined Affinia Group Inc. where he served as vice president and corporate treasurer.

Mr. Kaczynski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Michigan State University in 1985, a Master of Science degree in engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1987, and a Master of Business Administration degree in international business and finance from the University of Chicago in 1992. He attended the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in 2017.

Kristina A. KazarianVice President, Investor Relations

Ms. Kazarian is vice president, Investor Relations of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. She is also vice president, Investor Relations of MPLX GP LLC.

Prior to joining Marathon Petroleum in 2018, Ms. Kazarian was a managing director and head of the MLP, Midstream, and Refining Equity Research teams at Credit Suisse. She also worked at Deutsche Bank where she started as a director and was eventually promoted to managing director of MLP, Midstream, and Natural Gas Equity Research. Her career began at Fidelity Management & Research Company where she served as an analyst specializing on various energy industry subsectors.

Ms. Kazarian graduated from Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science. She also earned a Master of Business Administration in finance

D. Rick LinhardtVice President, Tax

Mr. Linhardt is vice president, Tax of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Mr. Linhardt joined Marathon in 2013 as manager of Tax Compliance. He was named director of Tax in 2017. Mr. Linhardt began his career as an auditor at a regional CPA firm in Kansas City. He joined Kansas City Southern’s tax department in 1988 and Seafield Capital Corporation in 1992 as tax manager. Mr. Linhardt joined KPMG LLP as senior tax manager in 1997 and LabOne, Inc. in 2000 where he became vice president of finance and tax and treasurer. Mr. Linhardt rejoined KPMG LLP in 2006 and in 2009 served as head of tax at RRI Energy, Inc. He was named to his current position in 2018.

Mr. Linhardt graduated from the University of Kansas in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and has been a certified public accountant since 1986.

Karma M. ThomsonVice President, Corporate Affairs

Ms. Thomson is vice president, Corporate Affairs of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

Prior to joining Marathon Petroleum in 2018, Ms. Thomson was vice president of Andeavor Logistics. She began her career with Texaco Refining and Marketing in 1989, holding a series of positions of increasing responsibility in environment, health and safety and operations. Ms. Thomson held the positions of supervisor, Technical/Major Projects; manager, Learning and Development; and manager, Production Assurance and Common Systems with Shell Oil Company. She joined Tesoro in 2007 as manager, Environment, Health and Safety, Los Angeles refinery and was named senior manager, Operations in 2009. In 2010, Ms. Thomson was named vice president, Environment, Health and Safety and vice president, Salt Lake City refinery from 2012 to 2017. 

Ms. Thomson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry/industrial hygiene from Utah State University and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Southern California.

James R. WilkinsVice President, Environment, Safety and Security

Mr. Wilkins is vice president, Environment, Safety and Security of Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

After a short time as a field engineer with Dowell Schlumburger, Mr. Wilkins began his career with Marathon in October 1990 at the Garyville refinery in Louisiana. He held various environmental roles until 1997 when he was promoted to Environmental and Safety manager at Garyville. In 1999, Mr. Wilkins transferred to corporate refining operations supporting the environmental, safety, and security functions within the organization. In 2004, he was promoted to manager, Refining Environmental, Safety and Security. In 2013, Mr. Wilkins assumed responsibility over process safety management (PSM) and promoted to director, Refining Environmental, Safety, Security, and PSM. In 2016, Mr. Wilkins assumed company-wide oversight responsibility and was named director, Environment, Safety, Security, and Product Quality. He assumed his current position in 2018.

Mr. Wilkins received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1989.