Home » Alltech appoints Aidan Connolly as chief innovation officer

Alltech appoints Aidan Connolly as chief innovation officer

Connolly will lead the commercialization of the company’s research programs

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 14, 2014) — Alltech has appointed vice president Aidan Connolly as chief innovation officer. Working closely with Dr. Karl Dawson, vice president and chief scientific officer, Connolly will be involved with Alltech’s innovation pipeline and lead the commercialization of the company’s research programs.

Aidan Connolly
Aidan Connolly

Connolly will put together a team within the company’s research department that will primarily focus on developing innovative, nutrition-based technologies. Their new product development will capitalize on the insights gained through the company’s considerable investment in nutrigenomics, the science of how diet affects gene expression.

Connolly graduated from University College Dublin with a master’s degree in international marketing. He has been with Alltech for nearly 25 years, initially in Ireland, and then in France, Brazil and the U.S. From 2002 until 2008, Connolly held the position of vice president of Europe and was most recently based in Washington, D.C., as vice president of corporate accounts.

Today, Connolly is an adjunct professor of marketing at University College Dublin and a professor of agribusiness at the China Agricultural University in Beijing. He is also an executive board member of the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF), the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA), the National Chicken Council, the National Turkey Federation, and a former board member of the European Union Association of Specialty Feed Ingredients and their Mixtures (FEFANA).