Board of Directors
M. Scott Faris
Chairman of the Board
Mr. Faris has served as a director of the Company since December 2011. Mr. Faris is an experienced entrepreneur with almost two decades of operating, venture-financing, and commercialization experience, involving more than 20 start-up and emerging-growth technology companies. In October 2021, Mr. Faris was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ColdQuanta, Inc. Since September 2016, he had served as Chief Business Officer of Luminar Technologies, Inc., a leading developer of autonomous vehicle systems technologies including Lidar sensor suites. In June 2013, Mr. Faris founded Aerosonix, Inc. (formerly MicroVapor Devices, LLC), a privately held developer and manufacturer of advanced medical devices, and served as its Chief Executive Officer until August 2016 and has served as Chairman of the board of directors since June 2013. In 2002, Mr. Faris also founded the Astralis Group, a strategy advisor that provides consulting to start-up companies and, since 2004, Mr. Faris has served as its Chief Executive Officer. In August 2007, Mr. Faris founded Planar Energy, a company that developed transformational ceramic solid-state battery technology and products, and served as its Chief Executive Officer until June 2013. Planar Energy is a spin-out of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. From October 2004 to June 2007, Mr. Faris was a partner with Corporate IP Ventures (formerly known as MetaTech Ventures), an early stage venture fund specializing in defense technologies. Mr. Faris also previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Waveguide Solutions, a developer of planar optical light wave circuit and micro system products, and as a director and Chief Operating Officer of Ocean Optics, Inc., a precision-optical-component and fiber-optic-instrument spin-out of the University of South Florida. Mr. Faris was also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Corporation, a technology accelerator, served as a director of the Florida Seed Capital Fund and Technology Commercialization at the Center for Microelectronics Research, and the Chairman of the Metro Orlando EDC. Mr. Faris received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Penn State University in 1988. Mr. Faris’s significant experience in executive management positions at various optical component companies, his experience in the commercialization of optical and opto-electronic component technology, and his background in optics, technology, and venture capital qualify him for service as one of our directors.
Kim Crider
Director
Ms. Crider is a highly experienced executive and has served as a director on boards for both private and public companies. She has held executive leadership positions in several multi-billion-dollar enterprises over the past 10 years, with deep expertise in aerospace, cybersecurity, data/AI and information technology. Ms. Crider presently has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the National Cybersecurity Center since July 2021, and for the Catalyst Campus for Technology & Innovation since January 2022. She also serves as a Board Advisor for Aalyria Technologies, Inc., a position she has held since January 2022. Ms. Crider served as a member of the Board of Directors of Virgin Orbit National Systems, LLC from April 2022 to August 2023. Ms. Crider is a founding partner and since its inception in May 2023, has served as the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Elara Nova Space Consultancy, LLC, a premier global advisory firm focused on the space sector. From 2016 to 2021, she was President of Kim Crider & Associates, LLC and Leadership Matters, LLC, specialized consulting firms providing executive consulting and coaching services to CEOs, CIOs, CTOs and other C-Suite leaders across industry sectors. A retired Major General in the United States Air Force, after serving in progressive leadership roles from 1986-2019, she also served as the first Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for the United States Space Force, Pentagon Washington D.C. from 2019 to 2021. Ms. Crider earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University in North Carolina, a Master of Business Administration degree from Western New England College in Massachusetts, a Master of Science in Military Studies from Air Command and Staff College in Alabama, a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University in Washington, D.C., and a Graduate Certificate in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University in Massachusetts.
S. Eric Creviston
Director
Mr. Creviston, has served as one of our directors since March 2021. He has served as Corporate Vice President and President of Mobile Products for Qorvo Inc. (“Qorvo”) since January 2015. Prior to that, he served as the Corporate Vice President and President of Cellular Products Group for RF Micro Devices, Inc. (“RFMD”) from August 2007 to January 2015. From May 2002 to August 2007, he served as Corporate Vice President of Cellular Products Group (previously known as Wireless Products until 2004), for RFMD. Mr. Creviston received a Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Illinois. Mr. Creviston’s previous experience in various leadership roles in Qorvo and RFMD adds invaluable knowledge to our Board with respect to assessing our business strategies, evaluating operating performance, assessing risks, and evaluating potential merger and acquisition opportunities, all of which qualify him for service as one of our directors.
Dr. Joseph Menaker
Director
Dr. Menaker was appointed to the Board in November 2018, and prior to that was a consultant to the Board beginning in March 2018, and prior to that was a consultant to us beginning in December 2016. From 1998 to 2016, he served as President of ISP, and as a director of its wholly owned subsidiary, ISP Latvia, until we acquired ISP in December 2016. Dr. Menaker is a graduate of Latvian State University, where he received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Economics. In 1985, Dr. Menaker received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics from Leningrad Institute of Finance and Economics. He co-founded UAV Factory Ltd. (“UAVF”) in Latvia in 2009 and served as its CEO from January 2017 to January 2021. Dr. Menaker continues to serve as a director for UAVF, which became part of Edge Autonomy Holdings. Edge Autonomy Holdings is a leading manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles. He also serves as a board member for Tsal Kaplun Foundation, a non-profit organization. Dr. Menaker’s expertise gained in various roles in financial management, international operations, and manufacturing high tech products and their applications for over thirty years, coupled with his knowledge gained as a researcher and analyst in economics provide invaluable knowledge to our Board and qualify him for service as one of our directors.
Darcie Peck
Director
Ms. Peck has served as one of our directors since November 2019. Ms. Peck served as a consultant to the Board beginning in April 2019. Prior to that she served as a Managing Partner of Cheer Partners, LLC, a start-up employee engagement consultancy firm from June 2017 through February 2019. From May 2013 until February 2016, Ms. Peck served as the Vice President Finance, Global Services for IMS Health Inc. (“IMS Health,” now IQVIA Holdings Inc.), a technology and analytics company serving life sciences companies near Danbury, Connecticut. From November 2009 until May 2013, Ms. Peck was Vice President Financial Planning and Analysis for IMS Health. From May 2002 through November 2009, Ms. Peck was Vice President Finance and Investor Relations for IMS Health. Prior to that, Ms. Peck was Vice President Finance, IBM Software Group (a division of International Business Machines Corp., or “IBM”) in Somers, New York from March 2001 to May 2002. From 1982 through to 2001, she held progressively increasing leadership responsibilities at IBM in finance, including Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of several acquired companies in technology, manufacturing, and computer leasing. Ms. Peck earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology at the University of Rochester and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from New York University Stern Graduate School of Business Administration. Ms. Peck’s expertise in executive leadership, financial and strategic planning, investor relations, international business, general management, business and pricing acumen, and high technology manufacturing process knowledge, uniquely qualifies her for service as one of our directors.
Sam Rubin
President & CEO, Director
Mr. Rubin has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer, and as a Director since March 2020. Mr. Rubin is also Chief Executive Officer and a director of LightPath Optical Instrumentation (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (“LPOI”), our wholly-owned subsidiary located in Jiading, People’s Republic of China, LightPath Optical Instrumentation (Zhenjiang) Co., Ltd. (“LPOIZ”), our wholly-owned subsidiary located in the New City District, of the Jiangsu province of the People’s Republic of China, ISP Optics Corporation (“ISP”), our wholly-owned subsidiary, located in Orlando, Florida, and ISP Optics Latvia SIA (“ISP Latvia”), our wholly-owned subsidiary located in Riga, Latvia.
Prior to joining us, Mr. Rubin was formerly the General Manager at Thorlabs Inc. (“Thorlabs”). In Mr. Rubin’s prior senior executive role at Thorlabs, he was responsible for Thorlabs’ Imaging Systems Division, a standalone organization with its own sales and marketing, as well as global responsibility for all of Thorlabs’ Life Science activities. Among the positions he held at Thorlabs, Mr. Rubin founded and grew Thorlabs’s fast growing operation in China, and spearheaded Thorlabs’ entry and significant growth in the Life Sciences market. As a member of the senior executive team, Mr. Rubin led new strategic initiatives for Thorlabs, including new product lines, acquisitions and growth into new markets. Prior to joining Thorlabs, Mr. Rubin co-founded XLight Photonics, an optical communication startup, which was later sold to a telecommunications private equity firm. Mr. Rubin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from Ben Gurion University, a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University, Stern School of Business, and is a graduate of the Executive Education, Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School. Mr. Rubin’s significant management experience in the optical industry qualifies him to lead us and our business and serve as one of our directors.