The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) is excited to welcome Rey Banatao, Dylan Chiu, former California Gov. Gray Davis, William Dean Donovan, Mindy Morton, George Rehm and Matt Sonsini to its advisory board.
“We are honored to see such an exceptional group of leaders join our board,” said Alexandre Bayen, director of CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, associate provost for the Berkeley Space Center, and Liao-Cho Innovation Endowed Chair and professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and of civil and environmental engineering at UC Berkeley.
“With expertise spanning state leadership, industry, venture capital and more, their diverse perspectives and unparalleled experience will help strengthen our mission to deliver technologies and solutions to benefit society.”
Rey Banatao is the director and project lead of the circular economics initiative at X, the moonshot factory within Alphabet.
With a diverse technical and entrepreneurial background, he has co-founded and scaled companies specializing in bio-based and chemically recyclable polymers. His materials science innovations — notably including the world’s first recyclable wind blade — have been commercialized across various industries, including the built environment, renewable energy and sporting goods.
Banatao serves as an adviser and investor in multiple sustainable materials startups. He is also an industry adviser to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Development Unit at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a member of the scientific advisory board for the BioProcess to Product (BioP2P) Network. He was a mentor for the first circular economy program for the Google for Startups Accelerator.
Banatao was named to the Forum of Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum in 2013.
Dylan Chiu is a principal at Berkeley Frontier Fund (BFF), a venture capital fund (VC) that invests in startup companies founded by UC Berkeley faculty and alumni. He focuses on promising technology areas that include artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity and materials science, backing such ventures as CITRIS Foundry alum Ayar Labs, Databricks, Mammoth Biosciences and Neurona Therapeutics. He also leads BFF’s philanthropic initiatives, which have resulted in donations to over 35 campus programs and organizations.
Chiu is an active member of UC Berkeley’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, having previously served as an adviser for the SkyDeck Accelerator, the UC Berkeley Student Entrepreneurship Program and the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Entrepreneurship Program.
Chiu earned a dual degree in political economy and public health from UC Berkeley.
Joseph “Gray” Davis was the 37th governor of California, elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002. He currently serves as counsel at Loeb & Loeb LLP in Los Angeles.
As governor, Davis made education a top priority, signing legislation to strengthen California’s K-12 system, increasing school accountability and expanding higher education access. While presiding over California during an economic expansion, he led the establishment of four Institutes for Science and Innovation at the University of California, including CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, to support interdisciplinary research in fields that were critical to the state’s economic future. In late 2023, in recognition of his commitment to education and innovation, Davis received the UC Presidential Medal – the University of California’s highest honor — from UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D.
Davis serves on the Southern California Leadership Council and is the 2025 co-chair. He holds a B.A. from Stanford and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law.
William Dean Donovan is a managing director at DiamondStream Partners, a venture fund focused on aviation and aerospace, whose investments include Ampaire, JetZero and Elroy Air. He co-founded Volaris, Mexico’s largest airline, and is now a member of its board of directors.
Donovan also sits on the board of Prophet, a marketing consultancy, and served as chair of the special committee during the firm’s recapitalization efforts. Donovan served as chief operating officer (COO) of Nimblefish Technologies, a micromarketing technology platform, and as CEO of SearchForce, a paid search workflow management and optimization platform.
Donovan received his MBA with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his B.A. from UC Berkeley, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with honors in rhetoric and economics.
Mindy Morton is a partner with Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, LLP, where she focuses on intellectual property, data privacy, internet and health care litigation. She also serves on Procopio’s management committee and leads the health care and trade secrets practice groups.
Morton graduated from UC Berkeley in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in political science with highest distinction in general scholarship and highest honors in political science. In 1997, she received her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor for the Yale Law Journal.
She previously served on the Young Alumni Council for the California Alumni Association Board of Directors and also chaired the 25th reunion committee for the Class of 1994. She currently serves as a co-chair for the UC Berkeley Women in Leadership Circle.
George Rehm is the director of Artera AI, a board member at Inkspace Imaging and Respond Health, and a member of the strategic advisory council at iSono Health, Kembi Therapeutics, Revalisio Health and Vizma. He is also a senior mentor to the Bakar Labs and Bakar BioEnginuity Hub at UC Berkeley.
He was a founding partner of Aeris Capital AG, financial adviser to the foundation established by SAP founder Klaus Tschira. At Aeris, he established its health care investment strategy, including venture, private equity and hedge fund investments.
Prior to joining Aeris, Rehm spent over 20 years as a lawyer and executive in the U.S., Europe and Asia. He received his B.S. from Georgetown University, completing his legal studies at UC Law San Francisco and Berkeley Law, in parallel to graduate studies in city planning at UC Berkeley.
Matt Sonsini is the managing partner and co-founder of Ravello Impact, a social impact and investment platform. He is also the principal and co-founder of Academic Innovation Catalyst (AIC), a philanthropic initiative that seeks to transform academic research into market-ready solutions for positive social impact. AIC aims to act as a “force multiplier” for other entrepreneurial programs and has launched partnerships with the UC Berkeley Bakar Fellows Program and CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, co-creating the CITRIS Innovation Fellowship and AIC Awards.
Sonsini started as a corporate and securities attorney in Silicon Valley, spending nearly 20 years as an associate and partner at Cooley and later as a partner at Wilson Sonsini. At Wilson Sonsini, he served on the policy, partner nominating and recruiting committees, building one of the firm’s largest practices. He also chaired the State Bar of California committee on startup formation and taught securities law at the UC Berkeley School of Law.
Later, as CEO of The Sobrato Organization (TSO), he directed investment, real estate and philanthropic activities.