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Chris Gladwin, Board of Advisors Chair, Co-Founder and CEO Ocient

In 2004, Chris founded Cleversafe which became the largest and most strategic object storage vendor in the world (according to IDC). He raised over $100 million and led the company to a $1.4 billion exit in 2015 when IBM acquired them. The technology he started generated over 1,000 patents granted or filed, creating one of the ten most powerful patent portfolios in the world. Prior to Cleversafe, Chris was the Founder and CEO of startups MusicNow and Cruise Technologies, and led product strategy for Zenith Data Systems. He started his career at Martin Marietta, and holds a mechanical engineering degree from MIT.

Joel Krauss (MATH ’71), Board of Advisors Vice-Chair

Prior to his retirement in 2017, Joel Krauss served a Managing Partner at Market Strategy Group since 2005, a role in which he advised public company executives on growth strategies. In 1985 Krauss co-founded OmniTech Consulting Group, which was sold to a public company in 1999.

Krauss is a member of Illinois Tech’s Board of Trustees and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Kaplan Institute and Chair, Board of Advisors for the Lewis College. He is a past co-chair of the prior $250 Million Capital Campaign. Krauss was honored with Illinois Tech’s Collins Merit Award in 2018.

Krauss and his family are members of the Philip Danforth Armour Society, which recognizes philanthropic families who have given transformational gifts of $1 million or more in support of the university’s mission.

Krauss holds an M.B.A. from the Booth School of Business at the University of �鶹APP and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Illinois Tech.

Rohit Prassad (M.S. EE ’99)

Rohit Prasad is senior vice president and head scientist, artificial general intelligence, Amazon Alexa, the voice service that powers Amazon’s family of Echo products, Amazon Fire TV and third-party offerings. Prasad leads Alexa research and development in Artificial Intelligence technologies aimed at making interaction with Alexa a magical experience for customers. Prior to Amazon, Prasad was deputy manager and senior director of the Speech, Language and Multimedia Business Unit at Raytheon BBN Technologies. In that role, he directed U.S. Government-sponsored research and development initiatives in speech-to-speech translation, psychological health analytics, document image translation and STEM learning. Prasad is a named author on more than 100 scientific articles and holds several patents. He earned his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, �鶹APP, and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, India.

Victor Tsao (M.S. CS ’81)

Victor Tsao co-founded Linksys in 1988 and made significant contributions to its successful transformation, as well as, the transformation of the entire home networking market. He grew Linksys from a garage entrepreneurship to a home networking leader. During the early expansion of WiFi, Linksys changed the playbook on home internet sharing and created a new lifestyle in home networking. In 2003, Linksys had grown to more than 300 employees with more than $500 million in annual revenue. Later that year, it was sold to Cisco in order to expand its global reach. Due to his accomplishments at Linksys, Tsao was inducted into the Consumer Electronics Association’s Hall of Fame in 2014. Prior to Linksys, Victor worked in various software programming and system integration jobs. He retired from corporate life in 2007 and remains active in technology through investments and philanthropy.

Tsao has been the Managing Partner of various family office investment entities since 2003. In this role, he is ultimately responsible for the assets under management which is allocated across the following asset types: cash, commodities, currency, fixed income, private equity, public equity, real estate, and venture capital. He has extensive experience in financial modeling and risk management, and allocates capital both directly and through private placement vehicles.

Tsao has been a longtime advocate and donor in giving back to the community through charitable giving. He created the Tsao Family Foundation in 2004 which was organized to support religious, charitable, scientific, literary, cultural and educational causes. The Tsao Family Foundation has made millions of dollars in grants to other 501(c) organizations in pursuit to make the world a better place.

Tsao holds an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University, an M.S. in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology, a B.S. in computer science from Tamkang University, and an Honorary Doctor of Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Jonny LeRoy

Jonny LeRoy was named Grainger’s Chief Technology Officer in April 2020. He is responsible for the technology systems, security and operations that underpin Grainger’s business model.

LeRoy joined Grainger after a 15-year career at ThoughtWorks, where as Head of Technology for North America, he led their technology organization, growing new offerings and capabilities, while also helping to progress their talent, culture and delivery expertise. In prior roles at ThoughtWorks, LeRoy served as Market Tech Principal for the West Coast and Lead Developer in the U.S. and UK. Earlier in his career, LeRoy was a founder and CTO of a successful UK start-up.

LeRoy holds CPE from Westminster University, and a MA, Literae Humaniores from the University of Oxford.

Don Means Jr. (EE '89)

Don Means Jr. is the chief information officer and director of information technology for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. He provides, coordinates and synchronizes capabilities and services that are always available, reliable and secure in support of the United States Department of Defense Information Network. He is also responsible for the delivery and operation of secure world-wide enterprise information technology services enabling the efficient and effective execution of DISA’s global combat support missions. Means has numerous military awards including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Frederica Darema (M.S. PHYS ’72)

Frederica Darema retired as Senior Executive Service (SES) member and as Director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in Arlington, Virginia, where she led the entire basic research investment for the Air Force on science and technology for future Air Force capabilities and transitioning the discoveries to defense industries and broader commercial sector. She also served as Research Director in the Air Force’s Chief Data Office and as Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary the Air Force Office for Science, Technology and Engineering. She previously served in research staff positions at the University of Pittsburgh, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Schlumberger-Doll Drama was employed in management and executive-level positions at the T.J. Watson IBM Research Center and the IBM Corporate Strategy Group, the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and Director of the AFOSR Directorate for Information, Math, and Life Sciences. Darema earned a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics at the University of Athens, Greece, and previously studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and University of California at Davis, and was a Fulbright Scholar and a Distinguished Scholar. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), among other professional recognitions. She pioneered the DDDAS paradigm and since 2000 she has organized and led research initiatives, programs, workshops, conferences, and other forums to foster and promote DDDAS-based science and technology advances.

Brad Henderson

Brad Henderson is the founding CEO of P33 where he is leading the nonprofit organization to drive global technology leadership for �鶹APP and inclusive economic growth for all. He brings twenty-plus years of professional experience and brings a deep understanding of how to unlock economic opportunities that benefit businesses and individuals to P33’s efforts.

Brad is an active leader in the �鶹APP community, serving on the board of trustees for the �鶹APP History Museum, the Association House in Humboldt Park and Interfaith Youth Core. He also serves on the board of ACCION US Network and Impact Engine. He was a BCG Bruce Henderson Institute (BHI) Fellow and is a member of the World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders program.

Bob Kress

Bob Kress is a managing director, Group Operating Officer, and the global Quality & Risk Officer for Accenture Security. He also has served as the managing director of Global IT Audit in Accenture’s Internal Audit organization and as COO of Accenture’s Internal IT organization. Kress chairs the board of i.c.stars, a social enterprise that provides workforce development training to low- income adults in �鶹APP, and the advisory board for the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa. He is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Board Leadership Fellow, and a multi-year awardee of the NACD Directorship 100. Kress holds leadership roles in The Economic Club of �鶹APP, The Executives Club of �鶹APP, the Private Directors Association (PDA), and is a founding sponsor of the Digital Directors Network (DDN). He has published two books, Running IT Like a Business and IT Governance to Drive High Performance, and holds patents for artificial intelligence technology for identifying risk trends. He has published numerous articles on cybersecurity, emerging technology, and risk management.

Mark Haraburda (M.S. FM ’04)

Mark Haraburda is CEO of Barchart. Barchart is headquartered in �鶹APP and is a provider of market data and financial technology to global financial, commodity and media firms. Barchart also operates Barchart.com, a global platform for individual investors and traders to access market information and tools. Barchart is the recipient of a variety of software and data awards, including Best Trading Platform (cmdtyView) at the Buy-Side Tech Awards and Best Real-Time Market Data Initiative at the Inside Market Data Awards.

Haraburda earned a M.S. in Financial Markets from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2004 and Bachelor of Science in Finance from Bradley University in 1999. Prior to starting at Barchart in 2007, Haraburda had previous roles with Bank One, �鶹APP Board of Trade, and �鶹APP Board of Options Exchange. Haraburda is also the 2018 Illinois Institute of Technology recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. Haraburda is an active volunteer in his community and resides with his family in the western suburbs of �鶹APP.

Bruce Meier (MATH ’07)

Bruce Meier has more than 35 years of experience in data and analytics systems in support of marketing, finance, and sales, holding director and manager positions at Mondelez International, Kraft Foods, Ralston Purina, SC Johnson and Miller Brewing Company. He currently volunteers at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Mount Prospect, IL – Missions and Stewardship Ministries, Elder; Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois - Foundation Board Chair; Illinois Tech – College of Computing Advisory Board member and �鶹APPland Alumni Affinity Group Chair.

STEM education and assisting families in need are Bruce's special interests, including preparing children and their families for a successful college experience. Bruce's interest in computing and Illinois Tech began with computer programming in high school math class. His teacher took students' coding forms to Illinois Tech's computer center to be key-punched and read into the computer, then he returned the printed results.

Bruce holds a B.S. degree in Mathematics (1976) from Illinois Tech and an M.S. degree in Statistics from Marquette University in Milwaukee where he taught database and math classes.

Biju Nair (M.S. CS ’01)

Biju Nair has a 26-year record of entrepreneurial and innovation leadership that has helped shape today’s wireless software industry. His inventions, the businesses he started and the products he pioneered have had a profound impact on the wireless software market. He currently serves as the EVP and President of the HYLA Division of Assurant. Prior to this, for the past 7 years, Biju served as President and CEO of HYLA Mobile, a VC backed company focused on developing technologies to re-purpose pre-owned mobile devices to create massive economic opportunities for HYLA’s customers, and owners of those devices and a better life for the recipients of these devices, while benefitting our environment. On December 1, 2020, Hyla was acquired by Assurant to create a dynamic subsidiary within Assurant that can serve all of our carrier, retailer, and OEM customers efficiently and cost-effectively to maximize their revenue and increase customer loyalty. He previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Strategy Officer for Synchronoss; Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sapience Knowledge Systems (acquired by Synchronoss); Senior Vice President and GM of the Connectivity and Security Group at Smith Micro Software; Corporate Vice President, GM & founder of Mobility Solutions Group at PCTEL, Inc. (acquired by Smith Micro) and has held senior executive positions at SAFCO Technologies and Agilent Technologies.

Bing Zhao (M.S. MATH '88)

Bing Zhao Zhao Bing is an Executive Director of Simplex Capital Asia Limited. Before he co-founded the Company with his former colleagues at Salomon Brothers, he worked in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong for investment bank’s proprietary trading group in the area of Asian Pacific strategies as a senior trader. He is a registered investment adviser under the Securities Ordinance of Hong Kong and has counselled numerous listed and non-listed companies in Hong Kong and Mainland China on investment strategies, risk management as well as overall management. Zhao is registered under the Securities and Futures Ordinance in Hong Kong as an investor advisor for securities advisory and assets management.

Eric Burger (Ph.D. CS '06)

Eric Burger is Research Director of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, Research Professor of Next G Security, and Research Professor of Public Policy at Virginia Tech. Before Virginia Tech, he was Research Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. He served in the Federal Government as Assistant Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and prior to that as the CTO of the Federal Communications Commission. Before academia he had five exits, including BEA Systems (NASD:BEAS) (VP and DCTO); SnowShore Networks (founder and CTO), a top-tier VC-backed company; Brooktrout (NASD:BRKT) (VP and CTO); and Centigram (CS). He also served as SVP and CTO of Neustar (NYSE:NSR). He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Public Interest Registry, the Foundation for Resilient Societies, and numerous advisory boards. He has his PhD in Computer Science from Illinois Tech, his MBA from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), and his SBEE from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Davide Picciotto

Davide has joined the exciting journey of the Siemens Digital Enterprise in early 2015 as Thought Leader in the Consumer Products space and is now globally responsible for the Siemens digitalization activities in the related industry verticals.

Previously he has been leading the Siemens US MES Food & Beverage. His background is in the Manufacturing Execution space, but his focus has grown over time to cover Automation, MOM, PLM and now the broader software and hardware digitalization space.

Davide has an excellent knowledge of all the technologies used in digitalization and of the value of applying them to industrial processes and has focused a lot of his attention in the manufacturing and economics of the vertical industries linking ROI, financial KPIs and qualitative benefits to manufacturing processes. Davide has earned a Master Degree in Communication Engineering at the University of Genoa, IT and lives in �鶹APP, IL with his wife and children.

Nick Feamster

Nick Feamster is Neubauer Professor of Computer Science and the Director of Center for Data and Computing (CDAC) at the University of �鶹APP. Previously, he was a full professor in the Computer Science Department at Princeton University, where he directed the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP); prior to Princeton, he was a full professor in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech.

His research focuses on many aspects of computer networking and networked systems, with a focus on network operations, network security, and censorship-resistant communication systems. He received his Ph.D. in Computer science from MIT in 2005, and his S.B. and M.Eng. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2000 and 2001, respectively. He was an early-stage employee at Looksmart (acquired by AltaVista), where he wrote the company's first web crawler; and at Damballa, where he helped design the company's first botnet-detection algorithm.

Rénu Kulkarni

Renu’s is corporate engagement lead for DPI. Her driving purpose is to help organizations and people leverage emerging technologies to improve the human condition, at scale. As a senior executive and an ‘accidental academic’, Renu has spent nearly 30 years working for and advising leading global organizations in technology, strategy, innovation, and enterprise transformation in higher education, high-tech communications, consumer electronics and media sectors.

She has held leadership, strategic and operational roles at Motorola, Deloitte Consulting, BellSouth International (now AT&T), Sprint, and GTE (now Verizon) at a time of massive growth and change in the telecom and wireless industry.

Her academic career includes leadership and teaching positions at Singularity University (an emerging technology think-and-do tank in Silicon Valley), the University of �鶹APP (as Associate Dean at Booth School of Business and Associate VP, Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the President) and Georgia Institute of Technology (as Founder and Executive Director, FutureMedia).

Renu serves on the Board of Regents of Loyola University �鶹APP, is Chair of the Questions Committee of the Economic Club of �鶹APP, a Judge for the New Venture Business Challenge at the University of �鶹APP Booth School of Business, and a Board Member for Pilot Light – a national food education non-profit.

Renu holds an MBA degree from Emory University, Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Systems Engineering/Management Science from Georgia Tech and an Executive Management Certificate from Booth School of Business.

Tim Stojka

Tim Stojka is currently CEO of Nexus3Capital. Previously, he was CEO of Agentis Energy. Agentis is a Smart Grid technology company providing energy data analytics to businesses and utilities serving more than 3 million business customers in North America.

In addition, he co-founded and serves on the board of Sertifi Inc., a leading provider of signature and payment processing software for the hospitality industry.

Stojka previously served as co-founder / Chairman and CEO of Commerx™. A pioneer in the development of Internet ecommerce systems, Stojka was responsible for helping direct and communicate the vision and growth strategies of Commerx.

Through leadership, Stojka successfully positioned Commerx as a leading provider of collaborative, Web-hosted e-procurement and supply chain solutions. In the year 2000 Stojka and Commerx were awarded the Smithsonian/ Computerworld technology award for innovation.

Stojka has been featured in a variety of top business publications including Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, Crain’s �鶹APP Business, and Business 2.0 and is a frequent guest speaker at technology industry conferences. In early 2000, he was named one of 25 “E-Champions” by BtoB magazine and was a top 10 finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Stojka also serves in leadership roles in many business and civic organizations including the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) where he served as Chairman �鶹APP Chapter, The Executives Club of �鶹APP, The McCormick School of Engineering Board at Northwestern University, �鶹APP Entrepreneurial Center (1871), �鶹APP Next ( Mayor’s Technology Council) Vistage International, the Economic Club of �鶹APP, and is a member of the Board of Trustees at Illinois Institute of Technology.

He holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Northwestern University and has attended both the Stanford Business School and Harvard Business School Executive M.B.A. programs.