Executive Team

P. Ayis Antoniou, Ph.D., M.B.A., is the Institute's first Administrative Director. His professional experience includes 25 years of entrepreneurial and line management positions, including CFO and second-in-command of a $100 million diversified, high-growth manufacturing public company, CFO of a $400 million multinational information services company, operations head and board member for a high-tech start-up company, founder and CEO of two successful consumer product companies, and turnaround CEO for a venture-backed startup. As a consultant, he has advised and worked closely with CEOs and senior executives of telecommunications, technology, and Fortune 500 companies, as well as start-ups in strategy development, execution, and in organizational interventions. He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Chicago where he conducted research in amorphous semiconductors. He also holds an M.B.A. from Yale’s School of Management and a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Athens, Greece. Ayis is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of Wide Horizons for Children, a child welfare and adoption agency in New England, and former board member of its humanitarian aid arm, Wide Horizons Fund for Children. He also served on the board of the Thacher Montessori School and the board of Yale’s School of Management Alumni Association. He is a member of the Financial Executives Institute and Sigma Xi, the scientific research society. He has two children and he lives in Milton. Contact: ayis.antoniou@wyss.harvard.edu

Mary Tolikas, Ph.D., M.B.A., is the Institute's Director of Operations, responsible for the implementation and management of the research and program development operations of the Institute. Mary brings experience in start-up operations, product development, strategic planning and business development in a number of technology markets and applications, including software, electromechanical devices, biological and electromagnetic modeling. As an engineer, she has designed and built products for a number of diverse customers, such as the U.S. Navy, Carrier Corp. and General Motors. She is the Co-Chair of the Women in Medicine Committee at Children’s Hospital Boston and a member of the Hospital’s Circle of Care. In addition she is a Fellow of the Emerging Leaders Program 2005 at the Center for Collaborative Leadership, University of Massachusetts. She is an avid runner and cyclist with yearly participation in the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Pan Mass Challenge fundraiser. Mary holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an M.B.A. from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. She also holds a BEng from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Contact: mary.tolikas@wyss.harvard.edu