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November 14, 2008
Kinex Board Member Killed in Tragic Plane Accident
On Thursday, November 13, 2008 a small plane went down in a Tallahassee, Florida neighborhood, killing Buffalo entrepreneur and Kinex Pharmaceuticals Board Member, Donald Hess and his wife Victoria.
“We are shocked and saddened by the loss of Don and Victoria who was an early in investor in Kinex and who championed the Life Sciences Industry within the Western New York and Southern Ontario communities,” said Kinex CEO Dr. Allen Barnett.
“Don and Vicky Hess leave behind a true legacy of involvement and caring for their community. They represented the ideals of giving back thoughtfully and effectively in so many ways,” Bill Joyce, Chairman of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, said.
An MIT graduate in electrical engineering, Hess in 1975 founded Amherst Systems, Inc. with partner Chuck Dowdell, a technology company that grew to more than 300 employees and $40 million in annual sales. Technical roles involved systems design and computer programming for high speed data acquisition systems, industrial process control, retail point-of-sale terminals, and automatic test equipment. As the company grew, the job became more administrative and included oversight of Finance, Legal, Human Resources, Contracts, Purchasing and Facilities.
The company was later sold in 1999 to Comptek Research Inc. which in 2000 became a part of Northrup Grumman. Northrop Grumman Amherst Systems now provides a complete post-delivery support solution and still operates in Western New York.
In 2002, Hess developed Amherst Tech Ventures LLC, a venture capital firm evaluating investments in Western New York and Southern Ontario which typical made investments ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. Active in the community, Hess was a dedicated Albright-Knox supporter, chairperson of the Clarence Conservative Party, and served on the boards of several local organizations including the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Western New York Venture Association, Kinex Pharmaceuticals, LLC and Simply Audiobooks Inc. He also was active with the Toronto Angel Group.
The Hess’ were residents of Clarence, New York.