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Sharona Justman - STEP Strategy Advisors |
CO-CHAIR / CO-FOUNDER |
Sharona Justman is the Managing Director of STEP Strategy Advisors, an acquisitions advisory and strategic planning firm supporting the identification and facilitation of business and acquisition partners for companies across many industries.
Sharona specializes in developing the strategic direction for a company and facilitating key business transactions from business development through acquisition incorporating a clear plan of action that addresses tactics to support revenue focused and market positioning activities that will yield measurable successes.
STEP is a Strategic Business Advisory firm founded in 2001 (www.STEPstrategy.net). The STEP team is comprised of experienced CEOs and senior executives who have developed significant and successful companies who focus on providing advice on strategic direction, business alliances, market positioning, revenue growth, mergers and acquisitions, and the development and execution of strategies to achieve significant results. STEP works with emerging growth companies to build their brand value and to develop and facilitate significant business transactions. STEP has offices in Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.
Sharona co-founded Rubenstein / Justman Management Consultants (www.RJMC.net) in 1986 providing information technology and operations improvement management consulting services to middle market companies in the industries of distribution, manufacturing, financial services, entertainment, and large non-profit organizations. RJMC provides project management for enterprise-wide projects involving information technology evaluation, selection, and integration as well as operations improvement consulting and business process reengineering services.
Sharona Justman began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and is a CPA. Sharona is an alumna of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and California State University, Northridge with a BS in Accounting and Economics.
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Yossi Vardi - International Technologies |
CO-CHAIR |
Yossi Vardi is one of Israel's early entrepreneurs and has co-founded, lead, and participated in building over 60 high-tech companies.
Yossi co-pioneered instant messaging as the founding investor and the former Chairman of Mirabilis Ltd., the creator of the highly popular instant messaging program ICQ now sold to AOL. Yossi Vardi has an extensive government and public career, holding the position of Director General of the Ministry of Energy and Chairman of Israel's National Oil Company and Chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation.
Many of Yossi Vardi's investments have resulting in the company going public such as answers.com, Scopus, Granite, and Lasers with many being acquired. Yossi Vardi sits on the advisory boards of 3i and Amdocs and has served on boards of numerous state and private corporations including Bezeq, Israel Electric, and the Bank of Israel. He has also been an advisor to the CEO's of AOL, Amazon, and Allied Signal.
Yossi Vardi has received many awards, including the Prime Minister of Israel Hi-Tech award for life achievements on two occasions, the Industry prize, the Ramniceanu prize and C-E-O's Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame.
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Glenn Yago - Milken Institute |
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Glenn Yago is Director of Capital Studies at the Milken Institute. He specializes in financial innovations, financial institutions and capital markets, and has extensively analyzed public policy and its relation to high-yield markets, initial public offerings, industrial and transportation concerns, and public and private sector employment.
In the area of capital access, Yago is creator of the Milken Institute's Capital Access Index, an annual survey that measures access to capital for entrepreneurs across countries, and co-creator of the Opacity Index, a measure of the openness of financial markets around the world, critical factors in determining a nation's economic health. Both indexes are referenced regularly in academic and business venues.
Yago has worked on financial innovations transfer and privatization projects in the Middle East since 1996, primarily in Israel and Jordan, and in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. His efforts were instrumental in the issuance of the first municipal bond in Israel's history to finance a development project in Tel-Aviv, and in spurring significant legislative amendments to democratize Israel's capital markets.
In the area of environmental finance, Yago's work focuses on developing financial innovations that monetize environmental goods and services. He organized "Financing Our Global Environmental Future," a 2001 conference co-sponsored by the Milken Institute, the U.N. Foundation and The Nature Conservancy; authored Financing Global Environmental Futures: Using Financial Markets and Instruments to Advance Environmental Goals (Milken Institute Policy Brief, 2001); and teaches environmental finance and urban economic development courses at the Tel Aviv University Recanati School of Business Administration. A central component of the 2002 environmental course was a feasibility study for financing restoration of the Yarqon River, an urban waterway that runs through seven municipalities in the most densely populated area of Israel. Yago is also a member of the California State Teachers' Retirement System Clean Technology Advisory Board, breaking new ground in the arena of environmental investing.
Before coming to the Institute, Yago was director of the Center for Capital Studies in New York, which he founded in 1992 to develop insight into the process of capital access and ownership change. He was a faculty member of the City University of New York Graduate Center Ph.D. Program in Economics, and a senior research associate at the Center for the Study of Business Government at Baruch College City University of New York.
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Eran Wagner - cVidya Networks |
CO-FOUNDER |
As President, North America Operations for cVidya Networks, Eran Wagner is working to develop the company's business in North America including direct sales, channel sales, marketing and new product creation.
Prior to his new role with cVidya, Eran was VP, Portfolio Strategy and Planning, Amdocs Products Group where he was responsible for developing Amdocs' overall product strategy, including portfolio planning, foundational products, product integration, demo capabilities, and the development of targeted solutions. Eran Joined Amdocs in 2004 following the successful acquisition of XACCT Technologies, a company he founded, by Amdocs.
Prior to Amdocs, Eran co-founded in 1997 XACCT Technologies Inc, where he served as the chairman of the Board of Directors and the executive vice president - Technology, responsible for the definition, creation and market introduction of all XACCT products, and for strategic alliances.
Before XACCT, Eran co-founded the Xpert Group in 1993, and served as president and CEO. The Xpert Group specialized in system integration projects for corporate and service providers networking and Internet/intranet environments. The Xpert Group was sold in 2005 to One.
Prior to Eran's initial business venture, he worked as a software engineer. He holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Tel-Aviv University. Eran is the inventor of multiple granted patents. He is based in San Jose, California.
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Yair Landau - Mass Animation / Bedouin Media |
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Yair Landau is the former Vice Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and President, Sony Pictures Digital. Landau formed Sony Pictures Digital in 1999, bringing together all of Sony Pictures' digital artists and software engineers from Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Online Entertainment and Columbia Tristar Interactive into one division.
Landau supervised production of Imageworks' first animated short, THE CHUBB CHUBBS, which won several awards including an Academy Award for Best Short Film (animated) in 2003. Landau has grown Sony Online Entertainment into the worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming building upon EverQuest, the most successful MMO PC game in the United States with Star Wars Galaxies launched in partnership with Lucas Arts in 2003.
Through Sony Pictures Digital, Landau developed the technology and formed the five-studio Movielink partnership, the first major studio Internet movie download service, launched in 2002. Most recently, he reorganized Sony Pictures Digital Networks to focus on emerging mobile entertainment, broadband video delivery and media software.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Chicago, Landau earned his MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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Igal Litovsky - Shamrock Capital Advisors |
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Igal Litovsky is Vice President of Shamrock Capital Advisors. Igal joined Shamrock Holdings in 2002. Igal's primary responsibilities include fundraising strategy and execution, industry and company research for prospective investments, due diligence, financial analysis, and portfolio company monitoring on behalf of the Fund.
Previously, Igal was a Director with the Mitchell Madison Strategy Consulting Group, a Strategy Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and a Vice President with an L.A.-based Internet sports-media company.
Igal serves as Director of Raval ACS Ltd. and Ahava. Igal graduated from the University of Chicago and the Harvard Business School.
Shamrock Holdings manages private investment funds with over $1.3 billion of committed capital. Shamrock emphasizes an active approach to private equity, public equity, and real estate investing. Shamrock was founded by Roy E. Disney in 1978.
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Isabel Maxwell - CommTouch |
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Isabel Maxwell is a Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum and co-founder of The McKinley Group, creator of the pioneering Magellan online search engine that was successfully sold to Excite. She is president emerita of CommTouch (NASDAQ:CTCH).
Isabel Maxwell brings over fifteen years of international journalism and entertainment experience with accomplishments including production/direction for the Yorkshire and Southern Independent Television networks in the UK and feature film production for New World Pictures. She was a founding director serving on the Board of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts-LA from 1986-1998 and is a long-time member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), U.K. Isabel Maxwell holds honor moderations in Jurisprudence and a B.A. and M.A. in history and modern languages from Oxford University. She has divided her time for the past 15 years between Los Angeles, Israel and Silicon Valley. |
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David Ben-Ami - Macrucure |
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David Ben-Ami is a key player in the life sciences industry in Israel with activities in management, business development, and corporate strategy. David Ben-Ami is currently the Chairman of Macrocure, a companty that develops cell therapy products for chronic wound hard to heal wounds.
Previously, David Ben-Ami was Country Director of Boston Scientific Israel and Director of Business Development of Teva Israel. David Ben-Ami serves as a board member in Meytav Technological Incubator, winner of the 2005 outstanding incubator award, and in several other medical device companies.
David Ben-Ami received his MBA degree and BA in Economics & Management from Tel-Aviv University.
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Ronit Harel Ben-Zeev - Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange |
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Ronit Harel is Senior Vice-President, Economic Department Manager for the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). She holds her current position since 1994.
Prior, Ronit Harel Ben-Zeev served as deputy of the TASE Economics Department manager and as a manager of the divisions handling Offerings, Research and Relations with Listed Companies.
Ronit holds a BA in Economics and Business Administration and an MBA from the Tel Aviv University. Ronit Harel Ben-Zeev lectures at The Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, Tel Aviv University, and at the Business Administration School of the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange fulfills a major role in the Israeli economy and is a key player in the nation's economic growth. It is the home turf on which corporate Israel raises capital to finance investments and activities, and for the government to bring the public into its companies as they are privatized. The state-of-the-art exchange is also home to the local investment community and securities sector. Today the market has become an advanced, top of the line venue for trading in securities of all types. |
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Sharon Rechter - BabyFirstTV |
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Sharon Rechter, along with business partner, Guy Oranim, conceptualized and co-founded BabyFirstTV. In her role as executive vice president, she leads the business development and marketing activities for the company with a clear passion to bring quality, new educational programming to families of babies and toddlers.
Sharon has a broad background in television programming and recently served as the vice president and head of operations for The Israeli Network (the Israeli television channel in the U.S.). She was responsible for the general management of the network, and focused on areas including business development, advertising and subscriptions. Before entering the television broadcast industry, she headed the strategic planning department at GNS Advertising in Israel where she was responsible for developing strategic plans for a variety of lifestyle brands. Sharon received her B.A. in business administration from the Arison School of Business and her L.L.B in law from the Radziner School of Law, both at The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel. |
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Dan Yukelson - Premiere Radio Networks |
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Dan Yukelson is the Executive Vice President / CFO of Premiere Radio Networks. Dan oversees all financial operations and contract negotiations, as well as the network's billing, traffic and continuity operations.
Dan joined Premiere Radio in 1995 and was instrumental in the growth and sale of the network to Jacor Communications in 1997.
Dan started his finance career at Ernst & Young LLP in Los Angeles, last serving as a senior manager in the Bankruptcy and Reorganization practice.
Dedicated to his community, Dan is a specialist reserve police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department and serves on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Police Reserve Foundation. |
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Tracy Williams - Olmstead Williams Communications |
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Tracy Williams has more than 25 years of public and government relations experience and manages the firm's professional service and technology clients. Under Ms. Williams' leadership, the firm has developed expertise in security issues, technology trends and health sciences. She brings her strengths in understanding and communicating complex technologies, issues, theories and models to the firm's finance and professional services clients.
Ms. Williams began her career at Hill and Knowlton Inc. in Washington, D.C., where she helped guide U.S. and European defense manufacturers through the government acquisition process. She developed programs aimed at key decision makers in Congress, the Pentagon, State Department, Federal Aviation Administration and the Commerce Department. After moving to Los Angeles, she orchestrated product rollouts for a variety of technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Computer Sciences Corporation, Acer Counterpoint, Inc. and Citizen American Corporation.
Ms. Williams works with technology start-up companies, as well as established infrastructure companies such as global smart card leader, Oberthur Card Systems. She also represents the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, which is ranked in the top 10. Ms. Williams earned her bachelor of arts degree from the School of Public and International Affairs at George Washington University. She was appointed by Mayor Hahn to serve on the Workforce Investment Board of Los Angeles and serves on the boards of the Downtown Women's Center and the Advertising Club of Los Angeles. She resides in Pacific Palisades with her husband Christian and their two children. |
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Baruch Littman - The Foundation |
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Baruch S. Littman is the Chairman of the California Capital Summit, a professional business association attracting financiers in California.
Baruch is the Vice President of Development of the Jewish Community Foundation. With more than 30 years of development and marketing experience, Littman aims to increase the assets of The Jewish Community Foundation.
Prior to joining The Foundation, he served as executive director of The California-Israel Chamber of Commerce. His career includes senior positions at The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and the American Nurses Association, as well as senior marketing and management positions at both Fortune 100 and 500 corporations.
Baruch Littman earned his bachelors degree from Long Island University and his masters degree in business administration from The City University of New York.
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David Nahai - Clinton Climate Initiative |
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H. David Nahai is Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative. Nahai is the President of David Nahai Associates, Inc. and the Manager of David Nahai Consulting Services, LLC. David Nahai Consulting Services advises and assists public and private entities involved in the environmental sector. David Nahai Associates is a law firm specializing in real estate, environmental, commercial, energy, and water law. The Clinton Climate Initiative is a division of the Clinton Foundation with the mission to bring about the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale through specific project partnerships with governments globally.
Until October, 2009, Nahai served as the CEO and General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest municipal utility in the United States. In this capacity, Nahai oversaw more than 9,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $4.5 billion. He served on the LADWP Board of Commissioners prior to becoming CEO. He was appointed to the Board in 2005 and became Board President in 2006.
Nahai led an overall transformation of the LADWP that included the unprecedented expansion of the utility's renewable energy portfolio; the origination and execution of the City's groundbreaking Water Supply Plan; the attainment of historic reductions in water consumption in the City; the realization of record breaking energy efficiency levels; and the launch and implementation of water and power infrastructure improvement programs. Under his leadership, the LADWP increased its renewable energy portfolio from 3 percent in 2005 to around 15 percent by the end of 2009.
In addition to his expertise in the energy field, Nahai is widely recognized as a leading expert on water issues. He served for over 10 years on California's Regional Water Quality Control Board, which safeguards the quality of surface, ground, and coastal waters in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, an area with over 11 million residents. Nahai was elected to an unprecedented four terms as Chairman of the Board in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2006. Nahai is credited with reinvigorating the effectiveness of the Water Board and spearheading some of its most aggressive programs, especially in the area of coastal protection.
Nahai began his career in the private section as an attorney, working at some of the United States' largest and most respected law firms.
Nahai has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations. In 2003, he received the Environmental Champion Award from the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. In 2008, he was honored as an environmental leader by Heal the Bay. He has been twice honored for community leadership. Nahai sits on the Boards of the California League of Conservation Voters and Heal the Bay, and has served on the Boards of numerous charities, including the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, the Iranian American Jewish Federation, and the Jewish Community Foundation.
Nahai holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in law from the London School of Economics and the University of California at Berkeley, and was a Visiting Scholar at Berkeley.
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Izhar Shay - Canaan Partners |
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Izhar Shay has been head of Canaan Partners' Israel operations since 2006. Izhar focuses on companies in communications and mobility, software, clean technologies and digital media. He also seeks key investments in medical devices. Izhar led Canaan’s investments in LiveU, Efficient Finance, EnStorage, Prime Sense and N-trig. Izhar also oversees Canaan’s local involvement in other Israeli companies. Izhar serves on the board of directors of LiveU, Efficient Finance, N-trig and Prime Sense.
With more than 20 years of operational experience as a successful entrepreneur, Izhar was previously Chairman and CEO of V-Secure Technologies, which he grew to a leading position in the intrusion prevention market. The company was acquired by Radware (RDWR) in December 2005. Prior to V-Secure, Izhar was CEO and co-founder of Business Layers, a Canaan portfolio company. Izhar led Business Layers from startup to a dominant player position in the identity management market, until it was acquired by Netegrity (NETE) in December 2003. Izhar was previously VP of Business Development The BRM Group.
Izhar holds a B.Sc. in Electronics Engineering from the Technion Institute in Haifa, Israel. He was a paratrooper and officer in the Israeli army. Izhar is involved in various volunteer activities related to the education of young students in Israel. He serves on the board of directors of Snunit, a nonprofit organization, specializing in integrating technology and the Internet into Israel’s elementary schools. Izhar is also a member of the board of directors of Ort, Israel Sci-Tech Schools organization. He writes a weekly column at Globes, and in 2009 he published his first book (in Hebrew) - "As Beautiful As You".
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Sigal Admony-Ravid - Israel Consulate |
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Sigal Admony-Ravid is the Israel Consul for Economic Affairs to the West Coast. Her office is responsible for enhancing bi-national trade relations between the local and Israeli business communities across a broad spectrum of industries.
Sigal began her career at the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the Foreign Trade Administration as the Deputy Director of the North American Department. Afterwards, she was assigned the duties of overseeing a national program that promoted the international commercialization of alternative energy technologies.
Before joining the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Sigal worked as an attorney for a leading Israeli firm specializing in intellectual property. She also worked as an attorney for the State Advocacy Fiscal Department within the Ministry of Justice.
Sigal was an officer in the Israeli Defense Force and received her degree in law from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Sigal also holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Tel Aviv University's Eitan Berglas School of Economics.
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Ori Israely - Giza Venture Capital |
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Ori Israely joined Giza in 1997 specializing in the sectors of Communications, Internet and IT.
Ori focuses on due diligence, investment valuation and the forging of strategic partnerships. Formerly, Mr. Israely provided investment banking services to several companies including Bynet and Iscar and was an Economist for Giyo International Ltd.
Ori holds an MBA in Finance, Accounting & Marketing and a BA in Economics magna cum laude, Tel Aviv University.
GIZA VC is a pioneer investor in seed and early-stage technology companies. Giza currently manages five funds totaling about $600 million.
Giza investment professionals bring wealth of expertise and experience in Communications, Semiconductors, Information Technology, Enterprise Software, Life Sciences, CleanTech, Media, Internet & Entertainment.
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David Blumberg - Blumberg Capital |
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David Blumberg brings more than 24 years of investing experience in venture capital backed technology companies including Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP), Teva (TEVA), Creo - acquired by Eastman Kodak (EK), DSP Group [DSPG], Electronics For Imaging (EFII), AbirNet - acquired by Computer Associates (CA), Conduct Software and Allerez - both acquired by Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Vista Research - acquired by McGraw Hill (MHP), and IP Infusion - acquired by ACCESS Co., Ltd. (TSE: 4513).
Prior to founding Blumberg Capital in 1991, David managed technology investments with Claridge Investments, Adler & Co., Apax, and T. Rowe Price Associates. David launched the business development efforts for Check Point Software Technologies.
David earned his AB in Government, cum laude, from Harvard College and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and INSEAD. David speaks French and is proficient in Hebrew and Spanish.
David serves as a member or observer on the Board of Directors of CaseStack, DoubleVerify, Siperian, and Correlix. He is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. |
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Gary Rubenstein - RJMC |
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Gary is the co-founder of Rubenstein / Justman Management Consultants, a leading strategic management consulting firm focusing on information technology and operations improvement servicing Fortune 1000 clients over the past sixteen years. Gary's expertise in technology integration is invaluable. Gary was with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the Management Advisory Services group for over seven years and was previously the Director for Internal Systems Audit for Great Western Financial Corporation. Gary holds a BS in Finance from California State University, Northridge and an MBA from Pepperdine University. Gary is a noted speaker on technology and operations management.
Rubenstein / Justman Management Consultants is a management consulting firm focused on Information Technology and Operations Improvement.
RJMC's considerable expertise in project management, business processes and procedures, complex organizations, and enterprise-wide systems spans over twenty years of working with project teams to identify solutions that best serve the strategic interests of the organization.
RJMC provides its Clients with specialized knowledge and expertise that result in practical and effective solutions. RJMC focuses on areas where technology can facilitate substantial operational improvements. Our Systems Assessments are a great tool for moving towards positive change.
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Noam Lotan - MRV Communications |
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Noam Lotan has been the President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of MRV Communication (OTC: MRVC) since May 1990 and became Chief Financial Officer of the Company in October 1993, in which position he served until June 1995.
From March 1987 to January 1990, Mr. Lotan served as Managing Director of Fibronics (UK) Ltd., the United Kingdom subsidiary of Fibronics International Inc. (Fibronics), a manufacturer of fiber optic communication networks. The Company purchased the Fibronics business in September 1996. From January 1985 to March 1987, Mr. Lotan served as a Director of European Operations for Fibronics. Prior to such time, Mr. Lotan held a variety of sales and marketing positions with Fibronics and Hewlett-Packard.
Noam Lotan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, and a Masters degree in Business Administration from INSEAD (the European Institute of Business Administration, Fontainebleau, France).
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