User:Lehall

My name is Laurence Hallas, also Larry Hallas. I was born in 1954) and consider myself an American entrepreneur currently residing in Saint Louis County, Missouri, USA

I began my career as a scientist, receiving a BA (Miami OH), MS (Cincinnati), and PhD (Maryland) in Environmental Microbiology before beginning an NIEHS fellowship at Cornell University in 1981. I was then hired at Monsanto Agricultural Company in 1982 and became a Science Fellow in 1990, publishing numerous articles and receiving a patent [http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5288635.html] for my work on the biological degradation of Roundup, the most widely-used herbicide in the world.

To enhance my survival in the small-business world, I became a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) in 1991. I also have served as a Director on several Boards in the scientific, academic and corporate communities, including Culver and the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology [http://simhq.org/index.aspx].

In 1993, I left Monsanto to incorporate a science consulting business and began 12 years as an independent consultant to companies and city public works as they implemented biological wastewater treatment facilities for cleaning industrial and domestic discharges.

I founded [http://www.almosteurope.com AlmostEurope.com] in 2002. The company imports woodcarvings, pewter ornaments, and crystal from family shops in the European Alps. AlmostEurope recently opened a small showroom in [http://www.town-and-country.org/ Town & Country, Missouri] to showcase handcarved nativity from the [http://www.pema.it Mahlknecht family] in the Italian alps of Val Gardena.

I also serve as a managing director of a Foundation (charity)- the private Hallas Family Foundation [http://fconline.fdncenter.org/indexes/fcs_gm/fdn.H.html] dedicated to the education of young Americans in the arts and science.

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