Steven A. Davis

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Steve Davis serves as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Bob Evans Farms Inc., a publicly held restaurant and food products company based in Columbus, Ohio.

Before joining the company in 2006, Davis worked at Yum! Brands Inc., where he had been president of Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food Restaurants since 2002. Previously, Davis served in a variety of operations management and other executive positions in Yum! Brands’ Pizza Hut division, including senior vice president of concept development where his team introduced the Wing Street concept. Before joining Pizza Hut in 1993, he was with Kraft General Foods for nine years. His last position with Kraft was as director of marketing for All American Gourmet. Earlier in his career, he held a series of brand management positions in Kraft’s cheese business where he launched several successful new products and marketing campaigns.

Davis serves as a board member of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute Foundation. He is a member of the Columbus Partnership and Compete Columbus, two organizations focused on economic development strategy for the region. He served as 2007 chair for Operation Feed, which provides food for needy families in Central Ohio. Davis is also a board member of Walgreens and the National Restaurant Association.

He served as chairman of the board of Summerbridge Louisville educational assistance program from 2003 to 2006 and was a board member of Turner 12, an organization that provides assistance to lower-income children to attend college, in Dallas from 2000 to 2003. Black Enterprise Magazine 2005 named Davis as one of the 75 Most Powerful Black Men in American Business.

Davis holds a Master of Business Administration in marketing and finance from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Davis and his wife, Lynnda, have three children and reside in Columbus, Ohio.

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Harvey Brownlee

President & Chief Restaurant Operations Officer, Bob Evans Restaurants

Harvey Brownlee is president and chief restaurant operations officer for Bob Evans Farms, Inc., a publicly held food service and restaurant company based in Columbus, Ohio. His primary responsibilities include building sales and focusing on standardizing operations across both Bob Evans and Mimi’s Café restaurants, as well as working with the supply chain management team to identify cost-savings.

Before joining the company, Brownlee worked at Kentucky Fried Chicken, where he served as chief operating officer since 2004. In this role, he was responsible for shaping operations strategy in company and franchise restaurants generating more than $5 billion in annual sales. In 2003 and 2004, he served as general manager, multi-branding/chief operating officer of Yum! Brands, Inc. From 2001 to 2003, Brownlee served as a vice president for Pizza Hut, Inc., after serving the previous 14 years in a variety of operations and management positions at Pizza Hut.

Brownlee holds a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Cleveland State University in Cleveland, OH.

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Paul DeSantis

Chief Financial Offer, Treasurer and Assistant Corporate Secretary

Paul DeSantis was named Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Assistant Corporate Secretary of Bob Evans Farms, Inc., in January 2011. DeSantis came to Bob Evans Farms from The A. Schulman Company in Akron, Ohio, a publicly traded multinational plastics company where he served as CFO for six years. He also spent nine years in various senior finance roles at the Scotts-Miracle-Gro Company in Marysville, Ohio, including vice president and corporate treasurer, vice president of finance and CFO of Scott’s international division in Lyon, France.

DeSantis also comes to Bob Evans Farms with solid food company experience, having spent four years with The Kellogg Company in Michigan, directing the financials for their foodservice division, as well as seven years with GMAC in Detroit.

He has a track record of building strong finance teams and developing people, and his experience with large public companies’ finance organizations will be of great value.

He holds a B.A. from Georgetown University and an MBA from The University of Michigan.

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Randall L. Hicks

President & Chief Concept Officer, Bob Evans Restaurants

Randy Hicks is president and chief concept officer for Bob Evans Farms, Inc., a publicly held restaurant and food products company based in Columbus, Ohio. Hicks is responsible for concept evolution, growth strategy, product innovation/pipeline development and brand communication. He also serves as the strategic change leader for the brand.

At age 15, Hicks started working during the summer months at the Ohio State Fair in the Bob Evans Food Tent. After eight years in this role, Hicks began working as a service attendant and grill cook in a Bob Evans Restaurant. He then joined the management program in 1982 as a manager-in-training and became a general manager five years later. He was promoted to area director with responsibility for six of the company’s restaurants in 1989. In 1994, he received a promotion to vice president, regional director of operations with responsibility for approximately 100 of the company’s restaurants. He was promoted to senior vice president of operations in mid January 2003 and to executive vice president of operations in July 2004, where he was responsible for the operation of the company’s nearly 600 Bob Evans Restaurants. He was named President and Chief Concept Officer of Bob Evans Restaurants in January 2009.

Hicks graduated from Canal Winchester High School in 1978 and the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, in 1982. Originally from Canal Winchester, Ohio, he currently resides in Dublin, Ohio.

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Mike Townsley

President of Bob Evans Foods

J. Michael Townsley is President of Bob Evans Foods.  Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is a publicly held restaurants and food products company, with sales of approximately $1.7 billion based in Columbus, Ohio.  Mr. Townsley joined Bob Evans Farms Inc. in 2003 as President and Chief Operating Officer of Owens Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bob Evans Farms, Inc.

Prior to joining Bob Evans Farms Inc., Mr. Townsley was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, for Premium Standard Farms in Kansas City. Premium Standard Farms was the largest fully integrated pork company in the country, with annual sales of $700 million. His prior experience includes three years at Smithfield Foods of Smithfield, Va., and 11 years with IBP Inc. of Dakota City, Neb.

Mr. Townsley is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture.  He has dedicated his professional career to the improvement of the meat industry as well as animal agriculture and was honored in 2007 by Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences by receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award.  Mr. Townsley currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Meat Institute; he formerly served on the Board of Directors of the National Pork Producers Council, as well as the Colorado Beef Board.

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Mark Mears

President & Chief Concept Officer, Mimi’s Cafe

Mark Mears has served as president and chief concept officer of Mimi’s Café, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bob Evans Farms, Inc., since April 2011. 

Before joining the company, Mark served for three years as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at The Cheesecake Factory. Prior to his time at Cheesecake Factory, Mark was with Universal Studios Hollywood, where he served as senior vice president, marketing and sales from 2006 through 2008.

He also spent three years with Blimpie International, Inc., managing all aspects of the Blimpie brand as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Mark spent two years working at an agency with Euro RSCG Retail, where he served as senior vice president and chief strategic officer.

In addition, Mark worked in sales, business development and marketing roles for JCPenney Company, Inc., Promotional Partners Worldwide, DDB Needham Promotions, Leo Burnett Company USA and Pizza Hut. He also served as CEO of Tick Tock “The Imagination Company!” in Dallas, Texas, from 1998 to 2000.

Mark holds a B.S. from the University of Kansas and an M.A. from Northwestern University.

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