Corporate Governance

Rex D. Geveden was nominated as a director of our Company in February 2018 and Chairman in May of 2021. Mr. Geveden currently serves as president and chief executive officer since January 1, 2017 and as chief operating officer from October 2015 until December 2016 of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), a $1.6 billion nuclear industrial conglomerate headquartered in Lynchburg, VA. Previously, Mr. Geveden was executive vice president at Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, a provider of electronic subsystems and instrumentation for aerospace, defense and other uses. There he led two of Teledyne’s four operating segments since 2013, and concurrently served as President of Teledyne DALSA, Inc., a Teledyne subsidiary, since 2014. Mr. Geveden also served as president and chief executive officer of Teledyne Scientific and Imaging, LLC from 2011 to 2013 and President of both Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc. and Teledyne’s Engineered Systems Segment from 2007 to 2011. Mr. Geveden is a former Associate Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”), where he was responsible for all technical operations within the agency’s $16 billion portfolio and served in various other positions with NASA in a career spanning 17 years. Mr. Geveden holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from Murray State University.

Based on Mr. Geveden’s extensive experience in the aerospace and defense industry as well as his proven track record as an outstanding leader, Mr. Geveden was unanimously nominated to serve as an independent board member by our board of directors in February 2018 to stand for election by the shareholders in 2018.

Kenton K. Alder has served as a director since March 1999. Mr. Alder also served as our President from March 1999 to January 2013 and as our Chief Executive Officer from our founding in 1998 through December 2013. Mr. Alder served on a part-time basis as a consultant and advisor to Mr. Edman for one year commencing on January 1, 2014 through December, 2014 and provided counsel on strategy, attended certain meetings, and was involved in special projects. From January 1997 to July 1998, Mr. Alder served as Vice President of Tyco Printed Circuit Group, Inc., a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer. Prior to that time, Mr. Alder served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ElectroStar, Inc., previously a publicly held PCB manufacturing company, from December 1994 to December 1996. From January 1987 to November 1994, Mr. Alder served as President of Lundahl Astro Circuits Inc., a predecessor company to ElectroStar, Inc. Mr. Alder also serves as the chairman of the board of directors and as chairman of the compensation committee of Juniper Systems, Inc. and as the Vice Chairman of the board of directors of Inovar, Inc. In addition, Mr. Alder is a member of the board of directors of Campbell Scientific, Inc. and is a member of its audit committee. Mr. Alder serves as the chairman of the academic approval committee, a member of the audit committee and a member of the executive committee of Utah State University. Mr. Alder serves as a member of the board of directors of Honeyville, Inc., a manufacturer of food ingredients. Mr. Alder holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Utah State University.

Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Alder is an independent director. Mr. Alder was nominated to the board of directors because of his past experience as our chief executive officer, which enables him to provide the board with insight based on his extensive knowledge about the Company and because of his significant operational expertise.

Wajid Ali was appointed as a director of our Company in May 2024. He is the current Chief Financial Officer of Lumentum Holdings Inc. and oversees Lumentum’s overall financial operations and information technology group.  Before joining Lumentum, Mr. Ali was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Synaptics Incorporated. Before Synaptics, Mr. Ali was Vice President and Controller at Teledyne Technologies, Incorporated. Prior to Teledyne, he served as Chief Financial Officer at DALSA Corp., a semiconductor company that was acquired by Teledyne in 2011. Mr. Ali also held key financial management positions at AMD and ATI, overseeing the finance functions for large business groups.

Mr. Ali holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree in Economics from York University; a Master of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business, York University; and CPA and CMA designations from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, Canada.

Based on Mr. Ali’s extensive financial background in industrial technology, coupled with his experience in the Aerospace and Defense sector, Mr. Ali was unanimously appointed to serve as an independent board member by our board of directors in May 2024.

Thomas T. Edman is the CEO of our company since January 2014 and President since January 2013. Mr. Edman has also served as a Director for our company since September 2004. From early 2011 to December 2012, Mr. Edman served as Group Vice President and General Manager of the AKT Display Business Group, which is a division of Applied Materials Inc., a publicly held provider of nanomanufacturing technology solutions. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Edman served as Corporate Vice President of Corporate Business Development of Applied Materials, Inc. Before that, Mr. Edman served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Applied Films Corporation from May 1998 until Applied Materials, Inc. acquired Applied Films Corporation in July 2006. From June 1996 until May 1998, Mr. Edman served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Applied Films Corporation. From 1993 until joining Applied Films, Mr. Edman served as General Manager of the High-Performance Materials Division of Marubeni Specialty Chemicals, Inc., a subsidiary of a major Japanese trading corporation. Mr. Edman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies (Japan) from Yale University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Julie S. England has served as a director of our Company since October 2016. Ms. England is presently retired. Prior to her retirement in 2009, she served in various capacities with Texas Instruments Inc., most recently as Vice President and General Manager of the Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) division. She also served as Vice President of its microprocessor division from 1998 to 2004 and as Vice President of Quality for the Semiconductor Group from 1994 to 1998. Earlier, she held various engineering, manufacturing, quality and business management positions Ms. England is an experienced independent corporate director serving on both private and public company boards in the USA and Europe. Ms. England has served as a director of Smartrac Technology Group, N.V. from 2014 until May 2018. From 2010 until its acquisition by CCL Industries in May 2016, she served as a director of Checkpoint Systems, Inc. and chaired its governance committee. Ms. England served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 1997 to 2003 and as a director of Intelleflex Corporation from 2010 to 2013. Ms. England served on the Board of Trustees of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum until July 2017, and served on the North Texas Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (“NACD”). Ms. England joined the board of directors of McMillen Jacobs Associates, in June, 2021. She has served on trade associations in the electronics industry including the American Electronics Association and AIM Global. Ms. England holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and graduate studies in business from Texas Tech University complemented with executive education at Harvard University and Stanford University. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art in 2018 from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

Ms. England is an independent director. Ms. England was nominated to the board of directors because of her extensive background in the technology industry and her experience serving on both private and public companies in the USA and Europe and to provide the Company with insight as she serves on our board.

Philip G. Franklin has served as a director of our Company since November 2010. Mr. Franklin is presently retired. From 1998-2016, Mr. Franklin served in various capacities with Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ: LFUS), a designer, manufacturer, and seller of circuit protection devices for use in electronics, automotive and electrical markets, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Littelfuse, Inc., Mr. Franklin was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for OmniQuip International, a construction equipment manufacturer, which he helped take public. Prior to that, Mr. Franklin served as Chief Financial Officer of Monarch Marking Systems and Hill Refrigeration. Mr. Franklin is a Trustee of XFLT, a below-investment-grade credit fund, where he chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee. Mr. Franklin is also on the board of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara where he serves on the Executive Committee and the Investment Committee. From 2014 to 2021, Mr. Franklin served as a director of Tribune Publishing where he chaired the Audit Committee and later served as non-executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. Franklin holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Our Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Franklin is an independent director and an “audit committee financial expert” as described in applicable SEC rules. Our Board of Directors believes that Mr. Franklin's finance experience provides our Board with valuable financial and accounting expertise, including a deep understanding of accounting principles, financial reporting rules and regulations, and knowledge of audit procedures.

Pamela B. Jackson was appointed as a director of our Company in June 2021. Ms. Jackson is a retired Vice President, Technology of Emerson Electric Company (“Emerson”), a leading global manufacturing and technology company based in St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. Jackson was with Emerson from April 2001 until October 2017, when she retired. Her responsibilities included corporate oversight of technology development initiatives related to new and lean product development, portfolio and product life cycle management, and Emerson’s centers of excellence for software and human-centered design. She also served on the management boards for the Emerson Pune, India Innovation Center and the Emerson Xi’an, China Engineering Center. Ms. Jackson also led a breadth of global, technology intensive businesses that include power supplies, energy systems, thin film and hybrid integrated circuits, piezoelectric devices, ferrites, printed circuit boards, lightguide fiber and loop transmission apparatus. She has served on several non-profit boards, including the Ranken Technical College Board of Trustees, in St Louis, Missouri where she also chairs the Student Success and Diversity Committee and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dallas African American Museum of Art and Culture. Ms. Jackson also became a “Life Member” of the Society of Women Engineers in 2017. Before joining Emerson, Ms. Jackson worked at Lucent, AT&T and Western Electric for over 20 years where she held a series of progressively more responsible positions in research, engineering, operations, and marketing, eventually serving as vice president and general manager of several businesses including Lucent’s MicroPower division in Austin, Texas. Ms. Jackson received two Bachelor of Science degrees in chemical engineering and chemistry, and a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from MIT. She holds an executive MBA from Boston University. Ms. Jackson is a member of Sigma Xi and Beta Gamma Sigma honorary societies, the American Chemical Society, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Based on Ms. Jackson’s extensive background in leading engineering driven product development organizations in the global industrial technology market, Ms. Jackson was unanimously appointed to serve as an independent board member by our board of directors in June 2021.

Chantel E. Lenard was appointed as a director of our Company in October 2018. Since 2017, Ms. Lenard has been a lecturer in marketing at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Ms. Lenard retired from Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) in 2017 where she served in various positions in a career spanning 25 years. Ms. Lenard most recently held the position of Ford’s executive director of U.S. Marketing from 2013 to 2017 after living in Shanghai and serving as Ford’s Vice President of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Africa from 2010 to 2013. Ms. Lenard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University.

Based on Ms. Lenard’s extensive background in the automobile industry and her lengthy and diverse experience in international marketing, Ms. Lenard was unanimously appointed to serve as an independent board member by our board of directors in October 2018. She will stand for election by the shareholders in 2019.

John G. Mayer has served as a director of our Company since September 2000. Mr. Mayer is presently retired. From January 1997 to November 1999, Mr. Mayer served as Vice President of Tyco Printed Circuit Group, Inc., a PCB manufacturer. Mr. Mayer served as Chief Operating Officer of ElectroStar, Inc., previously a publicly held PCB manufacturing company, from December 1994 to December 1996. From April 1986 to November 1994, Mr. Mayer served as President of Electro-Etch Circuits, Inc., a predecessor company to ElectroStar, Inc. Mr. Mayer served on the board of trustees of the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation from 2008 to 2017. Mr. Mayer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, the Arts and Letters from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law.

Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Mayer is an independent director. Mr. Mayer was nominated to the board of directors because of his extensive experience in the PCB business and has demonstrated depth of business experience in our company’s industry, particularly in technology and operations.