Harold is a Founding Partner in The March Group (TMG) and a Senior Scholar in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). TMG is a technology investment group dedicated to positively transforming the impact of the multi-trillion-dollar food industry on consumer health and environmental sustainability.
Prior to forming TMG, Dr. Schmitz gained deep domain expertise with Mars, Incorporated, including serving as the company’s first Chief Science Officer and creating the Mars Advanced Research Institute. Beginning in 1995, he created and led a world class “Food as Medicine” research team that discovered new health benefits associated with flavonoids and defined a new growth paradigm for the dark chocolate industry as well as other plant-based food categories. His passion for uncommon collaborations inspired relationships with the National Academy of Sciences, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Foundation and the University of California – including co-founding the UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health – a first of its kind organization enabling translation and commercialization of use inspired research aiming to positively transform the food sector's impact on global health and environmental sustainability.
Harold’s diversity and depth of experiences enable visibility to, and network support for, inventors, innovators, and companies defining the role of food in the new economy of health and environmental sustainability. He is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an advisor to the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Center for Biosustainability and BioInnovation Institute, Givaudan’s MISTA, and the AI Institute for Next-Generation Food Systems co-funded by the US Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation. He is also serving on the Board of Directors of Engage3 and Chairs the Meati Scientific Advisory Board.
Harold holds a Ph.D. in Food Science from North Carolina State University, MS in Food Science from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a BA in Food Science from the University of Arkansas.