Executive Management Team
Mark Deininger, J.D. – President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Deininger is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of C³. Admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1976, and with a degree in Economics from Davidson College in 1973, Mark Deininger has 30 years of experience serving as both attorney and business consultant. Mr. Deininger assisted early stage technology companies by combining material science expertise with economic and transactional analysis, as well as strategic planning for new and expanding ventures, with emphasis on the legal packaging of new technologies for licensing, tech transfer and capital formation.
Over the last 10 years, he expanded his basic understanding of material science and became co-inventor of C³’s applications in regard to treating die cast tools, refractory ceramics, catalysis and electrolytes, and is co-inventor of more than half of C³’s patented and patent pending technology. He has served as project manager of several technology incubators at ORNL since 2002, and was invited to sit in and help formulate policy in 2005 for the High Temperature Materials Lab (HTML) division of ORNL. He is a member of the Institute of Trial Attorneys, an active member of the Republican Party of Georgia, and the United Methodist Church.
James H. Ray, CPA/PFS, CFP – Acting Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Ray is a Certified Public Accountant with over 30 years of public and private accounting experience. Mr. Ray holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University. His public accounting experiences include auditing, business consulting as well as a tax background. Private experience includes that of V.P. Finance of a Florida publishing company and Controller of a start-up company in the 1980s. He formed his own accounting practice in 1989, practiced in partnership others and his practice ultimately culminated in the Atlanta firm Ray & Associates, P.C. which was sold in 2005. In 2006 he accepted the management position of Controller and served briefly as Assistant Secretary to C³’s Board of Managers.
He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Georgia Society of CPAs, Financial Planning Association of Georgia, and is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Arthur A. Horning, JD, MA - General Counsel and Secretary
Mr. Horning was named General Counsel and Secretary of C-3 Int’l, LLC in January, 2007. He serves as the chief legal officer and corporate secretary of the company and oversees legal compliance and corporate governance for all facets of the company’s operations.
Before joining C³, Mr. Horning served in various capacities from 1998 to 2006 with Trizec Properties, Inc., a Chicago-based, publicly-traded (NYSE - TRZ) Real Estate Investment Trust. From 2002-2003 he was Trizec’s Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Before and after that appointment he served as Trizec’s Assistant Regional Counsel in its Detroit and Atlanta offices. Prior to his employment with Trizec, Mr. Horning was Assistant General Counsel with Little Caesar Enterprises in Detroit Michigan (1996-1998) and Senior Corporate Counsel with Perry Drug Stores, Inc. (1984-1996), a publicly-traded (NYSE - PDS) drugstore chain. In these capacities, Mr. Horning performed many duties involving a wide-range of general corporate, securities law, real estate, insurance and risk management, and human resource issues.
Mr. Horning, a native of Michigan, received a B.A. degree (history/mathematics) (magna cum laude) in 1971 from Central Michigan University, an M.A. degree (modern European history) in 1973 from Michigan State University, and a J.D. degree in 1978 from Wayne State University. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the State Bar of Georgia, the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, and the Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals.
Mann Shoffner, J.D, MA – Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Shoffner is a bilingual executive with over 25 years of top performance in international business development, sales/marketing management, and multinational corporate leadership. Mr. Shoffner has a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from Vanderbilt University, a J.D. from the University of Memphis, and served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy from 1971 until 1978. During the 1980’s he was the International Sales Manager for Procter & Gamble, and in 1990 became the Worldwide Marketing Manager for the company. In 1993, Mr. Shoffner started working for Buckeye Technologies (a $750 Million international manufacturing organization) where, as Vice president of European and Middle Eastern Sales, he spearheaded the expansion of international business development. His markets represented 40% of the company’s total revenue base. Mr. Shoffner has been working with C³ since 1999. His background in Law, International Affairs, and Manufacturing make him uniquely qualified to assist Mr. Deininger in negotiating licensing contracts for C³. Mr. Shoffner has already formulated 2 commercial licenses for C³ and assisted in obtaining development grants from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Paul Fisher, Director of Thin Film Technologies
Mr. Fisher leads C³’s cutting edge research in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. His knowledge in this field is broad on both the scientific side as well as the end-user side. This enables Mr. Fisher to assist Mr. Deininger in coordinating the development of C³’s current intellectual property with various ideas for optimization by top scientists at ORNL and develop potential strategic partnerships. He received his B.A. from Davidson College and has taken advanced courses in chemistry and science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His past experience includes Senior Development Associate for Stauffer Chemical Co., Technical Supervisor for Ciba Geigy, and Operations Manager at PRC-DeSoto. Prior to coming to C³, Mr. Fisher served as Vice president of Hedrich North America where he was in charge of the sales of large, production line equipment to customers such as Ford and ABB. He also expanded Hedrich North America into Canada and Mexico. Mr. Fisher is a published author and member of the Euro/American Business Roundtable, Charlotte World Trade Association, and IPC Task Force for Photonics Assembly.
