Dr. Gilliam is a serial entrepreneur who has founded three companies dedicated to solving climate issues, specifically decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors like cement, energy, and petrochemicals. In 2019, Dr. Gilliam co-founded Fortera, where he serves as CEO. Dr. Gilliam also founded and serves on the Board of Directors of Verdagy, a company that has developed a novel green hydrogen technology and is currently building its first gigafactory in California, as well as Chemetry, a company focused on reducing the energy requirements and CO2 emissions associated with the production of essential chemicals.
Dr. Gilliam has also worked as a Venture Partner at 1955 Capital, a venture capital firm dedicated to investing in technologies that solve global challenges in areas such as energy, food safety, health, and sustainable manufacturing. Dr. Gilliam received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Toronto. On his work in materials and chemical development, Dr. Gilliam has 10+ peer-reviewed publications resulting in over 3000 citations of his work, and has been an invited speaker at multiple international conferences. He is an inventor with 100+ patents in energy, sustainability, products, and materials spaces.