Industry Experts

Douglas O. Adams

Associate Professor and Biochemist, Department of Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis

Professor Adams is currently the chair of the department’s Scholarship Committee and serves on the Teaching Committee.

Adams’ research program focuses on grape berry ripening. He has concentrated his efforts in two principle areas: the biochemical changes that occur during ripening, and the development of tannins in skins and seeds of red wine varieties. The latter leads naturally into research related to the level of tannins in wines, and he has pursued that topic with students in the university’s graduate food sciences program whose primary interest is in winemaking.

His most recent work on tannin development during ripening has led to a convenient assay for the analysis of tannins and polymeric pigments in grapes and wines. The second project in his laboratory is directed at identifying genes involved in grape berry ripening. Adams teaches Introduction to Winemaking and Grape Berry Development and Composition. He teaches a seminar in post-harvest biology, in which he organizes the class around natural products in fruits and vegetables that have been identified as having possible health benefits. 

He received his B.S. in biochemistry and both his M.S. and Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis.

For more information, see his professional biography.

Jeremy Benson

President of Benson Marketing Group

Benson founded the agency in 1997, which provides marketing services to wine and spirits companies from its offices in Napa, New York and Paris. He speaks frequently at industry conferences and university seminars on digital trends, brand marketing and direct-to-consumer marketing. Among other roles, Benson has worked with industry organizations including Free the Grapes!; Auction Napa Valley; UC Davis Board of Visitors & Fellows; and the Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium.

Before starting Benson Marketing Group, he was brand manager and export sales manager at Franciscan Estates. Previously, he was marketing director for the Napa Valley Vintners Association which brought him from Los Angeles, where he managed public relations campaigns for Domaine Chandon, Moet & Chandon, Hennessy Cognac, and Tanqueray.  He resides in Napa and holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and a BA from Occidental College, both in Los Angeles.

For more information, see his professional biography.

David E. Block

Professor and Chair, Department of Viticulture & Enology and Professor in Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, UC Davis

Since joining the Chemical Engineering faculty in 1996, his research has been focused on technology for wine fermentations and biopharmaceutical fermentation optimization based on historical process data and artificial intelligence. More recently, his work has included applications to biofuel production including the study of increased alcohol tolerance in microorganisms and of bio-based fuels.

Block teaches Biotech Facility Design and Regulatory Compliance in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Wine Technology and Winery Systems and Advances in the Science of Winemaking in the Department of Viticulture and Enology.

Before joining UC Davis, he worked in the Biopharmaceuticals Department at Hoffmann-La Roche in Nutley, New Jersey, from 1991-1996. At Roche, Block was in charge of a fermentation process development group and also a team leader for control systems in new manufacturing facilities. In the latter capacity, he helped to design, build, validate and maintain multiple new facilities.

Block holds a B.S.E. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Minnesota, respectively.

For more information, see his professional biography.

Brian Dunbar

Director of Client Services and Managing Partner, David&Goliath, A Creative Agency

Dunbar leads the account management and strategic planning departments at David&Goliath. His 25-year career in advertising includes work on some of the world’s most iconic brands – eBay, E*TRADE, Doritos, Adobe, Budweiser and American Airlines. He has a passion for building brands and bringing big creative ideas to life. Advertising produced for his clients has received scores of awards ranging from Cannes Lions to Effies.

Before joining David&Goliath, Dunbar was President of his own agency, Chief Marketing Officer at a new media start up, Associate Partner at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, and Group Account Director at DDB. He is also a regular guest lecturer on branding and advertising at the Stanford, Haas, and UC Davis graduate schools of business.

For more information, see his professional biography.

Kimberly Elsbach

Professor of Management and Stephen G. Newberry Endowed Chair in Leadership, Graduate School of Management, UC Davis

Elsbach was a Chancellor's Fellow at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management from 2000 to 2005. She received her Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Stanford University in 1993.

Before entering academia, she worked as an industrial engineer for the Quaker Oats Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where her office was located next to the Aunt Jemima Butter Syrup line. This arrangement helped solidify her decision to leave the glamour of corporate America for the academy.

Elsbach's current research focuses on the acquisition and maintenance of organizational images, identities and reputations, especially images of legitimacy, trustworthiness and creativity. She also teaches and studies negotiation skills in competitive business environments. Her research provides a framework for communicating with shareholders, customers and employees in the immediacy of a reputation crisis and through long-term recovery. In a recent paper published in the Harvard Business Review and the Academy of Management Journal, Elsbach presented findings that show how Hollywood movie and television producers judge the creativity of people pitching story ideas.

Elsbach is an International Research fellow at the Centre for Corporate Reputation, Oxford University.

For more information, see her professional biography.

Michael Maher

Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Jackson Family Wines

Michael Maher is the Senior Vis President and General Counsel at Jackson Family Enterprises (JFE).

Maher previously served as Corporate Counsel and Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs at Jackson Family Wines, and as Associate General Counsel at Trinchero Family Estates in Napa. Prior to his positions in the wine industry, Maher worked as a corporate attorney in the San Francisco office of the law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, advising public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance transactions and antitrust matters.  He also worked at Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty, a law firm in Napa, where he advised wine industry clients on corporate, real estate and alcoholic beverage matters.

Maher holds a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. in public policy studies from Duke University.  He also is a graduate of the OIV (Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin) MSc in Wine Management.  He currently serves on the steering committees of the Wine Industry Symposium Group and the California State Bar Agri-Business Committee.  Maher previously served on the Boards of Directors of the Wine Institute and Family Winemakers of California.

Anita Oberholster

Cooperative Extension Specialist in Enology, Department of Viticulture & Enology, UC Davis

During her PhD studies at Adelaide University in Australia, she researched the development of the mouth-feel wheel for red wine and investigated the changes in polymeric pigment structure and composition with wine aging. Dr. Oberholster's primary focus was on both wine and analytical chemistry with an emphasis on the influence different winemaking techniques have on phenol composition and quality. More specifically, she is interested in the polymeric pigment and tannin formation and composition, the development of techniques for the measurement thereof and their subsequent influence on mouth-feel.

Oberholster is currently involved in projects to investigate the influence of abiotic factors on grape tannin and norisoprenoid precursor (carotenoids) and chlorophyll development.

For more information, see her professional biography.

Robert Smiley

Professor Emeritus, Former Dean and Director of Wine Industry Programs

Smiley is a professor emeritus of management, former dean and director of wine industry programs at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. He earned both a B.S. in engineering and an M.S. in business economics from UCLA; in 1973, he received his Ph.D. in economics from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Before joining UC Davis, Professor Smiley was on the faculty at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

He has been a consultant to a variety of public- and private-sector businesses, including Unisys Corporation, IBM, General Motors, Shearson/Lehman American Express, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Attorney General of the State of California and McCaw Cellular Communications. He is a member of the board of directors of Cakebread Cellars and Delicato Family Vineyards.

During his tenure as dean, from 1989 to 2003, the Graduate School of Management moved into the ranking of top 50 MBA programs in the nation by The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and U.S. News & World Report. Under his leadership, the School successfully launched its MBA Program for Working Professionals that now has more than 450 students in two locations, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. He also launched the Business Partnership Program, which counts more than 50 regional companies supporting management education at the School.

The director of wine industry programs at UC Davis, Professor Smiley is a noted wine industry economist who studies global and national trends in the industry. He conducts an annual survey of wine industry insiders and CEOs of wineries, vineyards, distributors and wine sellers. He presents his research and findings at industry symposiums and conferences, and executive education programs for wine industry professionals.

For more information, see his professional biography

Andrew Walker

Professor and Louis P. Martini Endowed Chair in Viticulture, Department of Viticulture & Enology, UC Davis

Walker has been a faculty member of the Department of Viticulture and Enology since 1989, the same year he began breeding grapes.

Walker’s research program involves developing new rootstocks with resistance to fanleaf, dagger and root-knot nematodes and phylloxera. His lab studies include researching the genetics of resistance to these pests, their genetic diversity and aggressivity, and host/pest interactions of these pests with grape species. His lab is also actively involved in breeding table, raisin and wine grapes for resistance to Pierce's disease and powdery mildew. Other lab activities include classical breeding and inheritance studies, the development of rapid resistance assays, field trials of promising rootstock and scion selections, DNA marker analysis and mapping, and genetic engineering.

Professor Walker serves as Chair of the Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group, which administers the M.S. degree in Viticulture and all applied plant programs.

For more information, see his professional biography.

Andrew L. Waterhouse

Professor, Department of Viticulture & Enology, UC Davis

An internationally recognized wine chemist, his research program focuses on phenolic compounds, in particular their effects on wine qualities and on the health of wine consumers.  His current interests also include the effect of oxidation on wine chemistry and how this oxidation affects important quality parameters of wine, such as taste and color. Waterhouse is participating in the development of general analytical methodology of interest in wine analysis and has a variety of methods published in this area. He and his colleagues are currently applying a number of different methods to look at new grape and wine treatments being offered by various companies.

Professor Waterhouse received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He did postdoctoral studies at UC Berkeley, investigating natural pesticides. His first academic appointment was in the Chemistry Department at Tulane University, where his research program focused on structure-activity relationships of carbohydrates.

Waterhouse teaches UC Davis’ popular Introduction to Winemaking course, as well as more specialized courses for enologists, including a graduate-level course, Natural Products of Wine. He has received awards for wine research and has organized several symposia on the subjects of wine chemistry and wine and health.

For more information, see his professional biography.

James A. Wolpert

Coopoerative Extension Viticulture Specialist, Department of Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis

Wolpert received his B.S from Purdue University, and both his M.S. and Ph.D. in horticulture from Michigan State University. Both his graduate and doctoral projects involved research on production practices and how they influence cold hardiness of Concord grapevines.

As the Department of Viticulture and Enology’ extension viticulturist since 1985, Wolpert is responsible for applied research and grower education programs for wine grapes in northern California. His main areas of research are performance of rootstocks and evaluation of wine grape clones.

Over the past decade, Wolpert, with several UC farm advisors and emeritus specialist A. Kasimatis, has identified and collected selections of Zinfandel from old vineyards, some dating to the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. The project’s goals are to (1) conserve potentially valuable selections that are at risk from economic pressures to replant to newer, more productive vineyards and (2) identify selections with better winemaking attributes (e.g., better color and varietal character, and looser, less rot-prone clusters).

He has been invited to speak at industry meetings throughout the U.S., as well as internationally in Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain. He is the author of more than 50 scientific and technical publications.

For more information, see his professional biography.

Michelle Yetman

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Management, UC Davis

Yetman was trained at the University of North Carolina, where she earned a Ph.D. in accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant in Texas.

Professor Yetman is an expert in the areas of financial accounting and valuation, the role of information in security markets, and non-profit accounting and tax issues. Her current for-profit sector research is focused on capital markets, specifically the reaction of individuals such as stock market investors to financial statements and other information signals from companies and markets. In her recent non-profit sector research, Professor Yetman explores the usefulness of financial disclosures in decision making. This analysis includes how low-quality data reported in financial disclosures impact its value and how regulatory and market-influenced governance have made such data more useful in decision making. Professor Yetman’s work has been published in leading academic accounting and economic journals. She teaches a core MBA course in financial accounting.

For more information, see her professional biography.

Robert Yetman

Professor, Graduate School of Management, UC Davis

Yetman received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He teaches courses on taxes and business strategy, corporate governance, and the accounting industry. He has also has lectured on cost accounting at executive education programs for wine industry professionals.

Yetman is an expert on corporate tax, financial accounting, income tax, U.S. and international financial accounting, and non-profit accounting and tax issues. His research concentrates on the effect of taxes on business decisions and the response of non-profit organizations to economic incentives. He recently examined why some tax-exempt charities choose to be taxed on their unrelated business income, and how such behavior is not always driven by the desire to maximize profits. His research has been published in the Journal of Public Economics, The Accounting Review, The National Tax Journal and the Journal of the American Taxation Association.

Yetman is currently the faculty director of the master’s degree in professional accountancy program (MPAc). He was instrumental in launching this program at the Graduate School of Management, the first program among the 10 UC campuses.

For more information, see his professional biography.