January 29, 2024
Season 3, Ep. 04 | Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Featured Guest: Nick Whitman, Co-founder and COO of Divert
Overview: Nick Whitman is the co-founder and COO of Divert, an impact technology company on a mission to Protect the Value of Food. Fueled by the vision of a waste-free future, Nick co-founded Divert in 2007 to prevent wasted food through the creation of advanced technology and sustainable infrastructure.
He sits down with host and Middlebury President Laurie Patton to chat about his time at Middlebury as a Poli sci major, his ADHD diagnosis and his understanding of the value of neurodiversity, and his work with Divert to tackle the human and environmental crises caused by wasted food.
Watch the full podcast at Apple Podcasts, Pandora, or Spotify.
Podcast Speakers:
Nick Whitman, Co-Founder & COO of Divert
Nick Whitman is the Co-Founder and COO of Divert, an impact technology company on a mission to Protect the Value of Food™. Fueled by the vision of a waste-free future, Nick co-founded Divert in 2007 to prevent wasted food through the creation of advanced technology and sustainable infrastructure. Over the last 16 years, Nick has led strategic planning at Divert, including the execution of a wide range of corporate initiatives to drive growth, business operations, and market positioning. This includes strategic partnerships, marketing and brand development, finance and fundraising, people operations, new market development, legal and risk management, intellectual property, and long-term vision. Nick holds a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Middlebury College and a Master of Business Administration from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. Beyond Divert, Nick is passionate about being outdoors with his wife and 3 young kids.
Laurie L. Patton, President, Middlebury
Laurie L. Patton is the 17th president of Middlebury and the first woman to lead the institution in its 218-year history. Patton is a leading authority on South Asian history and culture, and the author or editor of 11 books in these fields. She has also translated the ancient Hindu text, The Bhagavad Gita, for Penguin Classics Series and authored three books of poetry. Patton served on the faculty and administration at Emory University, where she was the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Religions and the inaugural director of Emory’s Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in the Office of the Provost. While at Emory, Patton served as chair of the Religion Department from 2000 to 2007. Patton then served as the Durden Professor of Religion and Duke University’s Dean of Arts and Sciences until 2015. At Duke, she oversaw 36 academic departments and programs in arts and sciences for the school, which awards 80 percent of Duke’s bachelor degrees. She has raised more than $35 million in financial aid scholarships; inaugurated several new programs focusing on inclusivity on campus; and is guiding Middlebury’s plan to create a new and ambitious environmental goal that will build upon Middlebury’s achievement of carbon neutrality in 2016. From 2008 to 2011, Patton served as president of the American Society for the Study of Religion and in 2018–19, she will be the president of the American Academy of Religion, an 8,000-member scholarly society for the study of religion. In April 2018, she was elected to be a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, as a leader in two fields—religion/philosophy and education.
MiddMoment is a production of Middlebury College and is produced by University FM.
