John B. Elstrott

Dr. John B. Elstrott is an active entrepreneur and investor in the venture capital, wetlands mitigation banking, pharmaceutical, financial services, medical and functional food, technology, audio hardware and software, and authentic herbal remedy industries.

Among his many business associations, Dr. Elstrott served as the chairman of the board and chair of the audit committee of Whole Foods Market Inc. from 1994 to 2017 prior to its sale to Amazon.

In the academic world, he is Emeritus Executive Director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship Research at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, where he taught courses and researched entrepreneurship, strategic planning, regional economic development, technology commercialization, and environmental economics over a 30-year period.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Elstrott was chief financial officer of Celestial Seasonings, Inc. He serves on the boards of several public and private corporations and non-profit community service organizations.

He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Colorado Boulder, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics from Louisiana State University.