Mr. Mike Wicks

Mike Wicks is a native of Huntsville and deeply committed to the development of this community.  He is a seasoned engineer and entrepreneur whose four decade career spans Army missile R&D, high growth defense technology startups, executive leadership within a major Fortune 500 defense contractor, and now leadership in cancer immunotherapy at Diakonos Oncology.  Wicks graduated Summa Cum Laude in mechanical engineering from Auburn University, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a master’s degree in engineering from The University of Alabama in Huntsville and was recently inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.

After nearly 45 years in aerospace and defense, and following his own experience as a cancer survivor, Wicks shifted his focus to fight cancer, joining a Diakonos in 2022 to lead the development of state of the art cancer immunotherapies. He now serves as CEO and board member of Diakonos, a clinical stage immuno oncology company with multiple U.S. clinical trials in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, MD Anderson, and UTHealth Houston as well as an international cancer treatment center in Cancun. His community involvement includes serving on several Boards including Regions Bank, UAH Foundation, and i3, Chairing the Huntsville Classic, and receiving the AHA Heart of the Community award.  Through his Wicks Family Foundation, he has benefited the Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium and the Wicks Family Garden at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. A fifth-generation Huntsville native, Wicks is the great-great-grandson of William L. Quick, who built and flew the country’s first monoplane which is displayed in the USSRC Davidson Center.