Tetsuya O’Hara, MBA

Tetsuya O’Hara, MBA, attended Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1985. He was then employed at Teijin Limited, a multinational chemical company in Osaka, Japan, where he was in charge of sailcloth from 1985 until 1995, and contributed to America’s Cup as an official sailcloth supplier. In 1992, he won the Most Valuable Employee Award at Teijin. In 1996, he moved his family to Connecticut to work for Dimension Polyant Sailcloth, Inc. As Executive Manager, he developed new materials, including polyester-laminated fabric for NASA’s environmental research balloon. In 2003, he moved his family to California to join Patagonia, Inc., as Director of Material Development and Advanced Concepts. There he manages the raw material sourcing, development, new business concepts, and new technologies for the product lines, along with finding materials that are the most environmentally friendly. He received his MBA from Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management in 2008. The United States Patent Office approved his scientific inventions and granted him patents in January 2000 and July 2008.