AuthenTec Board of Directors

 

Bill Washecka

William “Bill” Washecka has served as a member of our Board of Directors since June 2008 and was elected as Chairman of our Board of Directors on June 28, 2010. Mr. Washecka also serves as a director on the board of Online Resources and in the past served as a director on the board of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Washecka served as Chief Financial Officer of Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in therapies for central nervous system disorders. From 2001 to 2002, Mr. Washecka served as Chief Financial Officer for USinternetworking, Inc., an enterprise and e-commerce software service provider.  Previously, Mr. Washecka was a senior audit partner with Ernst & Young LLP, which he joined in 1972 and was responsible for the High Technology and emerging business practice in the Mid Atlantic area. He has a BS in accounting from Bernard Baruch College of New York and completed the Kellogg Executive Management Program. Mr. Washecka’s extensive financial and accounting experience gained as a CFO of multiple companies and as a partner at Ernst & Young is a great asset to our board and our Audit Committee in particular.

 

Chris Fedde

SafeNet President & Chief Operating Officer Chris Fedde was elected to AuthenTec's Board in January 2008.  SafeNet, Inc., a global leader in information security, has achieved continuous profitability and successive record-setting quarterly sales since Fedde's appointment as President and COO in October 2006. Mr. Fedde – a 25-year veteran of the information security industry – joined SafeNet in February of 2001 as Director of Corporate Product Management and Business Development, and has been a key contributor to SafeNet's security presence in the financial community and the federal government. Sales at SafeNet have grown from $16 million in 2001 to more than $300 million in 2007. Mr. Fedde started his career at Motorola where he was a wireless product engineering manager  before joining Harris as the director of secure products at Harris RF Communications Division, where he started the security business and led its growth into a successful business unit. He holds several patents related to wireless technologies, and received a BSEE degree from the University of Iowa. 

 

Gustav H. Koven

Gustav H. Koven serves as a Board member and is the Managing Director of Knickerbocker LLC. Mr. Koven brings a combination of investment and operating experience to AuthenTec, including over 15 years as a venture capitalist. Mr. Koven came to Knickerbocker from Edison Ventures where he was a partner since 1990. Previously, Mr. Koven was President of Chase Manhattan Capital Corp. where he made equity investments in growth companies and management buyouts. Prior to starting Chase's equity business in 1985, Mr. Koven was their Vice President in Corporate Development and Planning. Before joining Chase in 1980, Mr. Koven held marketing and corporate development positions at Union Carbide. Mr. Koven received a BE from Stevens Institute of Technology and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

 

F. Scott Moody

F. Scott Moody is the company's co-founder and is a director on the AuthenTec Board.  He was previously AuthenTec's CEO.  Since founding AuthenTec in 1998, Mr. Moody was responsible for its overall strategic direction, fund raising, business development, management of daily operations and led the company's successful IPO in June of 2007. Under his leadership, AuthenTec assembled a highly qualified team; introduced new products at a rapid pace; quickly ramped to production and developed strong relationships with industry partners. Prior to founding AuthenTec, Mr. Moody was the Vice President of a $200 million division of Harris' Semiconductor Sector (now Intersil). During his tenure at Harris, Mr. Moody led the very successful turnaround of several diverse operations including the repositioning of the commodity logic business business which was later successfully sold, the acquisition and repositioning of GE Microelectronics and the highly profitable turn around of the Group's Mil/Aero business. Mr. Moody began his career at Harris in 1980 where he gained experience in both the Semiconductor and Electronic Systems Sectors, including functional experience in engineering, manufacturing, program management, marketing and general management. Mr. Moody received a BS in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State in 1980 and an executive MBA from the University of Florida in 1987.

 

Larry Ciaccia
Mr. Larry Ciaccia joined AuthenTec’s Board of Directors in September 2010.  Larry Ciaccia is Chief Executive Officer of AuthenTec and oversees the company's day-to-day operations. He joined the company in 2005 and was previously AuthenTec's President and Chief Operating Officer.  Mr. Ciaccia has 25-years experience in the semiconductor and wireless industry. Prior to joining AuthenTec, he was vice president and general manager of the Wireless Data and Networking Component Products unit at Conexant, the former PRISM WLAN business unit of Intersil. While at Intersil, he spearheaded the development and ramp up of the company’s PRISM 802.11 Wi-Fi initiative, and led the total business as general manager as it grew rapidly from $20 million to $200 million and 300 employees. In his role as vice president and general manager, Mr. Ciaccia also was instrumental in Intersil’s highly successful initial public offering and sale of the wireless business to GlobespanVirata, which subsequently merged with Conexant. Mr. Ciaccia began his career in 1980 with Harris Semiconductor, which later became Intersil -- and held numerous technical and management positions of increasing responsibility. Mr. Ciaccia earned a BSEE degree from Clarkson University in New York and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.

 

Dr. Ronald D. Black
Dr. Ronald Black joined AuthenTec’s Board of Directors following the AuthenTec-UPEK merger in September 2010.  He is the former Chairman and CEO of UPEK.  Dr. Black is also a board member for Heptagon and Inside Contactless. Previously, he was chief executive officer of Wavecom, a publicly traded French wireless solutions company. Dr. Black has also served in a number of senior executive roles at other companies including: executive vice president of the Client Systems Group at Agere Systems, vice president and general manager of the Next-Generation Networks Business Unit at Gemplus (now Gemalto), general manager of the Communications Systems Division of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector (now Freescale), and a number of senior management positions at IBM Microelectronics in its Power PC Microprocessors group and its Electronic Packaging Applications and Development groups. He holds a Bachelor of Science, a Masters of Science, and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

 

Jean Schmitt
Mr. Jean Schmitt joined AuthenTec’s Board of Directors following the AuthenTec-UPEK merger in September 2010.  He served on UPEK's board of directors since March 2004.  In December 2001, he joined Sofinnova Partners SA, where he currently serves as managing partner and focuses on opportunities in the telecommunications and consumer electronics industries. Prior to joining Sofinnova Partners SA, Mr. Schmitt was the chief executive officer and founder of SLP InfoWare, a world leader in predictive customer relationship management software for the telecommunications industry, which was sold to Gemplus International S.A. in 2000. After the acquisition, Mr. Schmitt was the chairman and chief executive officer of SLP InfoWare and vice president of the Telecommunication Solutions and Applications group at Gemplus until November 2001. He is a guest lecturer at Telcom Paris and serves as a director of MYRIAD AG (SIX:MYRN), Sagem Wireless, Accent, Blyk and Celsius. Mr. Schmitt graduated with honors from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications, or ENST, in Paris, France, and earned a post-graduate degree in artificial intelligence from ENST.