Dr. Robert J. Calcaterra advises companies within Larta Institute’s USDA Commercialization Assistance Training Program (USDA-CATP). Most recently, he served as president and chief executive officer of Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise. At Nidus Center, Dr. Calcaterra led efforts to commercialize technologies in the plant and life sciences by recruiting and nurturing young entrepreneurs with promising ideas and relevant business expertise.

During Dr. Calcaterra’s tenure at the three incubators he has managed he has been involved in the creation of over 50 start up companies, raised well over $200M in equity capital and has served on the board of directors of at least 40 of those companies. In St. Louis he was primarily responsible for the creation of the BioGenerator (a pre seed venture fund) and the Arch Angel Network where he is now President.

He also served as president, founder and chief executive officer of the Arizona Technology Incubator (ATI). A public/private partnership, ATI provides technical and business support services to early-stage, technology-based entrepreneurial companies. Under Dr. Calcaterra's leadership ATI has won three consecutive awards (1996-98) in the categories of Incubator Company of the Year, Incubator Innovation of the Year and Incubator Graduate Company. ATI hosted the NBIA conference in 1998.

Previously, Dr. Calcaterra worked for numerous Fortune 500 companies. While with Adolph Coors Company, he was director of Research & Development, Licensing, and Quality Assurance where he managed as many as 325 employees. He also formed eight new technically based businesses for Adolph Coors Company. Prior to his work at Adolph Coors, Dr. Calcaterra worked as senior research engineer for long-range strategic planning and technology forecasting and assessments for Amoco Corporation. He was also a research engineer for Alcoa Corporation and Monsanto Company, where he began his career in 1965.

Dr. Calcaterra extended his leadership efforts internationally when he agreed to be a Mentor for Australia High Technology (ACT) Incubator System in Canberra, Australia. In May 1999, he represented the National Business Incubation Association in Beijing China.

Dr. Calcaterra also taught graduate courses in entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado, Arizona State University and Washington University. Dr. Calcaterra did his graduate and undergraduate work in chemical engineering at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He received his D.Sc. in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and later completed Harvard University's Industrial Research Institute Executive Management Seminar.