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Announcing a Transition at Stone

Jun 30, 2017

On behalf of Stone Environmental’s Board of Directors, we are pleased to the announce the appointment of John Hanzas as President and Michael Winchell as Vice President. Stepping down from their current executive positions, Founder and President, Christopher Stone and Vice President, David Healy, will remain at Stone as senior executive and technical consultants, as well as continue to serve on the Board of Directors. All of these changes will become effective July 1, 2017. 

John and Mike are both longtime Stone veterans and leaders in their respective fields. They currently serve on Stone’s senior management team and are well positioned to take on these new executive roles, as well as continue to lead Stone’s Agrochemical Fate and Exposure and Environmental Modeling teams.

“John and Mike bring experience and complementary talents that will take Stone to the next level of quality, innovation, and responsiveness that our clients expect to see,” said Chris. “They are supported by an amazing team of professionals who are passionate about the work they perform and make Stone a great place to work. Personally, I am looking forward to contributing on a number of different levels as Stone Environmental moves onto this new chapter.”

David commented, “For me, the last 20+ years working at Stone have been an incredible and rewarding experience. In 1995, I was thrilled to lead and grow our GIS services with the help of some incredibly talented folks. It has been an amazing time for this technology’s explosion. I feel confident with John and Mike at Stone’s helm that over the next 25 years they will take our scientists, technology, and clients to new levels.”

This announcement comes after several years of thoughtful succession planning. Over the course of the last 25 years, Chris and David have worked relentlessly to develop a company committed to scientific integrity, innovation, and a focus on client needs. Through their leadership, Stone has grown to an interdisciplinary team of over 40 scientists, engineers, modelers, application developers, and project managers. The first step in our leadership transition began in January 2016, when Chris and David led the effort to make Stone Environmental a 100% employee-owned company. July 1 marks another major milestone, as Chris and David step down from their executive roles and hand over the reins to Stone's next generation of leadership.

About John Hanzas

John joined Stone in 1994 as a staff geoscientist and quickly moved up the ranks, eagerly working on every type of project Stone conducted. He has been pivotal to the growth and success of Stone over the last two decades. For the past nine years, John has led Stone’s Agrochemical Fate and Exposure group while serving on the senior management team. John brings strong technical and business perspectives to his new role, with a degree in business management and over two decades of experience performing field studies.

About Michael Winchell

Mike has been a part of Stone for the last 16 years, rising to the position of Senior Environmental Modeler and GIS Specialist. In 2012, Mike established the company’s Environmental Systems Modeling service line, which has since grown into one of the largest service areas in the company. Over the course of his tenure at Stone, Mike has led technical geospatial analysis and modeling efforts, as well as managed projects across nearly all of Stone’s areas of expertise.