Leadership
LEADERSHIP
Executive Team
Dr. Stephen Dunmead
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Stephen Dunmead has over 35 years of strong operational and executive leadership in the mining, engineered materials, and specialty chemical…
Dag Grantham
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Dag Grantham leads strategic partnerships and commercial development to support the buildout of a secure domestic critical materials…
Brock O’Kelley
Chief Technology Officer
Brock O’Kelley serves as Chief Technology Officer of Mission Critical Materials where he leads the development of the company’s commercial…
Preston Montalvo
Vice President, Engineering
Preston Montalvo serves as Vice President of Engineering at Mission Critical Materials, where he leads the engineering…
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Ryan Watson
General Counsel
Ryan Watson is a practicing lawyer and licensed patent attorney, who currently serves as West Virginia University’s Executive…
Board of Directors
Kenneth Van Heel
Board Chair Kenneth Van Heel is the Chief
Executive Officer at Motorcity Systems, a
software provider in the trucking and…
Tom Heywood
Board Member Tom Heywood is a former Managing
Partner of Bowles Rice LLP, a regional law firm
based in Charleston, West Virginia, and…
Major General (Retired) James A. Hoyer
Board Member Major General (Ret.) James A. Hoyer
is a nationally respected leader in national security,
innovation, economic development, and…
Advisory Group
Kevin J. Craig
Kevin J. Craig serves on the Advisory Group of
Mission Critical Materials and is Executive Vice
President at GP Natural Resource Partners (NRP)…
Martin Gallagher
Martin Gallagher serves on the Advisory Group of
Mission Critical Materials and is a former Senior
Principal Scientist with McCormick & Company…
Read more →
Melinda Sych
Melinda Sych serves on the Advisory Group of
Mission Critical Materials and is a seasoned C level
executive with over 25 years of leadership…
Latest News:
West Virginia Executive: Another Man’s Treasure
Dr. Stephen Dunmead
Board of Directors
Dr. Stephen Dunmead serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Mission Critical Materials and has over 35 years of strong operational and executive leadership in the mining, engineered materials, and specialty chemical sectors. He was an executive officer (Form 4 filer) for two different NYSE-listed Materials Companies, including as Chief Operating Officer of SWM International (now Mativ) and Executive Vice President of OM Group (now Umicore / Jervois / Vacuumscmelze). During his 15-year tenure at OM Group, it was the world’s largest producer of cobalt, fifth largest producer of nickel, and had a significant presence in the lithium-ion battery and permanent magnet supply chains. He also served as Chairman of the Cobalt Institute and Chairman of OM Group’s Big Hill Joint Venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His career began with roles at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and The Dow Chemical Company. After leaving SWM in 2015, he established Dunmead Global Solutions LLC, a board and advisory business focused on strategy, operations, financing, and M&A in the mining, metals, engineered materials, and specialty chemicals sectors. Steve graduated from The Ohio State University with BS and MS degrees in ceramic engineering and has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in materials science and engineering.
Dag Grantham
Executive Team
Dag Grantham serves as Executive Vice President of Business Development at Mission Critical Materials, where he leads strategic partnerships and commercial development to support the buildout of a secure domestic critical materials supply chain. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Mr. Grantham is a combat-proven U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) and F-16 Command Pilot with deep national security and aviation leadership experience. He brings more than 30 years of executive leadership across business development, operations, advanced materials, and energy, combining mission-focused discipline with strategic growth expertise aligned with MCM’s role in strengthening U.S. industrial and defense resilience. Mr. Grantham has founded and led multiple ventures, including Blade Viper Consulting, LLC, focused on executive leadership and operational performance, and Falcon 9324, LLC, advancing collaborative technology platforms. As Chief Executive Officer of Eden Innovations, an ASX listed materials technology company, he commercialized sustainable infrastructure technologies, secured national distribution partnerships, and achieved approvals for deployment in federally funded projects. Earlier in his career, he served as General Manager at National Specialty Aggregates and as Director of Flight Standards at NetJets. He also serves as a Commissioner on the Georgia Student Finance Commission and is Founder of Paceline Ride, LLC, supporting cancer research initiatives.
Brock O’Kelley
Executive Team
Brock O’Kelley serves as Chief Technology Officer of Mission Critical Materials where he leads the development of the company’s commercial processing flowsheets and the scale-up of MCM’s platform for recovering rare earth elements and other critical materials from unconventional and legacy industrial waste streams. Brock brings more than four decades of experience in extractive metallurgy, rare earth processing, and industrial scale-up. He holds a B.S. in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy from the Colorado School of Mines. Over the course of his career, he has worked across a range of metallurgical operations including base metals, ironmaking, and oil shale processing before focusing his career on rare earth technologies. He spent much of his career with Molycorp, where he held a number of senior technical and operational roles supporting the development and operation of the Mountain Pass rare earth facility in California, including Operations Manager, Technology Manager, and Director of Technology. In recognition of his technical leadership and mentorship of engineers and scientists across the organization, he was appointed Molycorp’s first Technology Fellow and Vice President of Technology. Following his time at Molycorp, Brock has remained active in the rare earth sector, working with the Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines and advising companies globally on rare earth processing and separation technologies via his consulting practice.
Preston Montalvo
Executive Team
Preston Montalvo serves as Vice President of Engineering at Mission Critical Materials, where he leads the engineering, construction, commissioning, and startup of MCM’s commercial critical materials projects. He brings more than 15 years of experience in process engineering, hydrometallurgy, mineral processing, solid-liquid separation, industrial water treatment, resource recovery, and the commercialization of emerging technologies.
Prior to joining MCM, Preston served as Director of Engineering at OXbyEL Technologies, where he led the engineering and delivery of electrochemical water-treatment systems from development through commissioning and field deployment, coordinating vendors, contractors, procurement, and logistics. Previously, he led chemical process operations and startup at Ball Corporation’s greenfield facility in Glendale, Arizona, and spent ten years with Pocock Industrial supporting mining, hydrometallurgical, rare-earth, and critical-materials projects from pilot testing through design, startup, and plant troubleshooting.
His experience includes copper SX/EW and electrowinning at Freeport-McMoRan, project support for Molycorp’s Mountain Pass rare-earth facility, and mining and metallurgical assignments in the United States and internationally.
Preston is a named inventor on published U.S. patent applications related to electrochemical water treatment and resource recovery. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah and is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt.
Ryan Watson
General Counsel
Ryan Watson is serving as MCM’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. A practicing lawyer and licensed patent attorney, Ryan currently serves as West Virginia University’s Executive Director of Intellectual Property and Licensing, as well as Senior Associate General Counsel. As Executive Director of Intellectual Property and Licensing for WVU’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization, Ryan oversees WVU’s patent, copyright, and trade secret portfolio and licensing practice, including legal review and negotiation of a wide variety of business transactions and equity agreements. As Senior Associate General Counsel, Ryan provides strategic legal advice to inform leadership decision-making with respect to legal risks, compliance, transactional and commercial matters, and pre-litigation disputes. Prior roles include Associate Attorney at Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Engineer at the U.S. Dept. of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and Engineer at Milliken & Company.
Kenneth Van Heel
Board of Directors
Board Chair Kenneth Van Heel is the Chief Executive Officer at Motorcity Systems, a software provider in the trucking and transportation industry. Prior to joining Motorcity Systems, he spent 35 years at The Dow Chemical Company including his last role as Global Director of Strategic Planning and Corporate Ventures. Prior roles included Director of Alternative Investments and Global Director of Corporate Venture Capital. He also serves as a Director on the Board of SeaStar Medical. He brings experience in private equity and venture capital investment, financial analysis and reporting, and strategic planning. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and an MBA from DePaul University.
Tom Heywood
Board of Directors
Board Member Tom Heywood is a former Managing Partner of Bowles Rice LLP, a regional law firm based in Charleston, West Virginia, and a former Chief of Staff to Governor Gaston Caperton, West Virginia’s 31st Governor. A practicing lawyer, he is active in business and philanthropic circles in West Virginia, and maintains a government relations practice. Tom presently serves on the boards of many non profit organizations, charitable foundations, and private companies, including WVU Medicine, the Benedum Foundation, and West Virginia American Water Company. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School.
Major General (Retired) James A. Hoyer
Board of Directors
Board Member Major General (Ret.) James A. Hoyer is a nationally respected leader in national security, innovation, economic development, and higher education with nearly 40 years of miliary and public service. A West Virginia native, he served as the Adjutant General of West Virginia, providing command leadership to more than 9,000 Guardsmen and civilians and directing the state’s Joint Interagency Task Force during major emergencies. Following his military service, he served as Vice President of Economic Innovation at West Virginia University (WVU), advancing cross-sector collaboration in public health, cybersecurity, technology, and next-generation economic development. He currently serves as an advisor to WVU and as a Senior Mentor for the Civil Military Innovation Institute (CMI2), a nonprofit organization that bridges the gaps in defense innovation. He also serves on the boards of City Holding Company and Fidelis New Energy LLC. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Charleston and holds a master’s degree in management and public administration from the West Virginia Graduate College, a master’s in strategic studies from the US Army War College, and a Certificate in Identity Management from the Naval Post Graduate School.
Kevin J. Craig
Advisory Group
Kevin J. Craig serves on the Advisory Group of Mission Critical Materials and is Executive Vice President at GP Natural Resource Partners (NRP), a role he has held since 2021. He previously served as Executive Vice President – Coal beginning in 2014. He joined NRP in 2005 from CSX Transportation and has extensive experience in marketing, finance, and operations within the energy industry. He also represents NRP as an appointee to the Board of Managers of Sicecam Wyoming LLC. From 2000 to 2015, he was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, where he was elected to seven consecutive terms. During his legislative tenure, he chaired both the Committee on Energy and the Committee on Natural Resources, playing a key role in shaping state energy policy. He currently serves on the boards of West Virginia University, Encova Mutual Insurance Company, and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, where he is Vice Chairman. He is a former Captain in the US Army and holds a BBA with an accounting concentration from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Georgia Southern University.
Martin Gallagher
Advisory Group
Martin Gallagher serves on the Advisory Group of Mission Critical Materials and is a former Senior Principal Scientist with McCormick & Company and retired naval officer. Prior to serving in these roles, he held process and project engineering positions at Sherwin Williams, Unilever (Lever Brothers), and Westvaco. He is a retired US Navy Commander and Engineering Duty Officer. His significant assignments include PEO Ships, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), and US Embassy Baghdad. He graduated from West Virginia University with BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering and from Loyola University with a MS degree in Finance where he was an Alpha Sigma Nu honors graduate.
Melinda Sych
Advisory Group
Melinda Sych serves on the Advisory Group of Mission Critical Materials and is a seasoned C level executive with over 25 years of leadership in diverse technical markets including defense, semiconductor, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, mining, water treatment, and critical materials. She recently served as Chief Commercial Officer at Battelle, leading growth and commercial strategy across the National Security, Environment & Infrastructure, and Health sectors. Her executive roles include Global Vice President of Revenue Operations at Tektronix and Global Vice President at Suterra, The Wonderful Company, where she advanced global commercial expertise and scaled innovation-driven businesses. She also held senior leadership positions at Rohm & Haas and The Dow Chemical Company where she led commercial strategy, P&L performance, growth, and M&A. She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University, executive education from The Wharton School, and serves as the Chair of the Brian Grant Foundation.