Corporate Governance

Paul Travers is the founder of Vuzix and has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since 1997 and as a member of our Board of Directors since November 1997. Prior to the formation of Vuzix, Mr. Travers founded both e-Tek Labs, Inc. and Forte Technologies Inc. He has been a driving force behind the development of our products. With more than 30 years’ experience in the consumer electronics field, and 26 years’ experience in the virtual reality and virtual display fields, he is a nationally recognized industry expert. He holds an Associate degree in engineering science from Canton, ATC and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering from Clarkson University.

Grant Russell has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President since 2000 and as a member of our Board of Directors since April 2009. From 1997 to 2004, Mr. Russell developed and subsequently sold a successful software firm and a new concept computer store and cyber café. In 1984, he co-founded Advanced Gravis Computer (Gravis), which, under his leadership as President, grew to become the world’s largest PC and Macintosh joystick manufacturer with sales of $44 million worldwide and 220 employees. Gravis was listed on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange. In September 1996 it was acquired by a US-based Fortune 100 company via a successful public tender offer. Mr. Russell holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance from the University of British Columbia and is both a US Certified Public Accountant and a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant.

Edward W. Kay, Jr. has been a director of the Company since April 2016. Mr. Kay is a Certified Public Accountant who spent his 33-year career with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) working with companies in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, software and technology. Mr. Kay served as PwC’s Rochester, NY Office Managing Partner for 13 years from 1999 to 2012 and, for a time, Managing Partner of the firm’s Upstate NY practice and had been the Leader of PwC’s high technology practice in Dallas, TX from 1993 to 1999. Mr. Kay was formerly a Board member, Executive Committee member, and Audit Committee Chair of IEC Electronics (NYSE: IEC) from 2013 to 2015 and is currently on the board of a large private company in the product distribution business. During Mr. Kay’s tenure at PwC and through his service on other corporate boards, he accumulated extensive experience in financial, securities, and business matters, including significant leadership roles in dealing with accounting and auditing matters related to public companies.

Timothy Harned is an investment banking, corporate development, and financial advisory veteran with more than 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and related activities. Mr. Harned is also a technology specialist with more than twenty years of experience in various technology fields, including communications, mobility, and software, and another ten years working with consumer and industrial companies. Over his career, Mr. Harned has led strategic transactions for both Fortune 500 companies as well as earlier stage high-growth enterprises. In addition, he has successfully completed multiple cross-border transactions for U.S. acquirers entering the markets of both established and developing countries. Mr. Harned is currently the Founder and Managing Partner of 8Nineteen Advisory, LLC where he serves as a strategic C-suite consultant regarding growth matters and provides financial advisory services, with a specialty in mergers and acquisitions and corporate and business development. He has been with 8Nineteen Advisory, LLC since December 2016. He began his career at Lehman Brothers (1987 to 1992) within the mergers and acquisitions group and later joined Banc of America Securities (1996 to 2000) where he became a Managing Director. Mr. Harned subsequently joined Morgan Stanley & Co. (2000 to 2002), where he served as an Executive Director focused on merger and acquisition and capital markets advisory for technology companies. Mr. Harned also spent more than a decade (2003 to 2016) with several technology-focused financial and strategic advisory boutiques and has also served as a corporate development executive (1994 to 1996).

Azita Arvani is a customer-focused Hi-Tech leader who delivers innovation-led revenue growth. With over two decades in digital industries, she brings extensive experience in leveraging disruptive technologies such as 5G, AI, IoT, cloud, and AR/VR, commercializing innovations, and building partnerships and ecosystems. She currently serves as General Manager of Rakuten Mobile Americas where she drives the development, strategy and deployment of the business in the Americas. Prior to joining Rakuten in February 2020, she worked at Nokia, most recently as Head of Innovation Partner & Venture Management. She led the company’s leading-edge global team where she discovered, partnered with, and mentored hundreds of rapid-growth innovative companies. She has deep experience in both established Fortune 500 companies and rapid-growth startups. She is an avid evangelist of true digital transformation for telecommunication companies, as well as other industries. Ms. Arvani has been on the Board of Directors of the Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC) since October 2012 with a focus on innovation and serves on the Compensation and Governance Committees

Emily Nagle Green is a long-time executive in the technology sector, with over 30 years of experience in introducing and scaling a wide variety of advanced technologies. Following completion of a M.S. Engineering in computer graphics and artificial intelligence, she began her professional career developing special-effects software for supercomputers; later she led marketing for a fiber-optic communications technology firm. She served for 8 years with Forrester Research, a leading technology advisory firm, where she predicted consumer technology adoption, advised executives, and later built the firm’s European operations. She was the CEO and later Chairman of Yankee Group Research, and the launching CEO of Smart Lunches, a fast-growing ecommerce startup. She is an accomplished author and currently serves on the boards of Casella Waste Systems (NASD: CWST) and Centerspace Residential (NYSE: CSR), chairing the Nominating & Governance committees for both companies. Since 2015, she has professionally coached over 30 CEOs in the tech sector on strategy, leadership, and board management. In the non-profit sector she leads the Boston Chapter of All Raise, the national organization that supports women founders and funders. She is a member of NACD and Women Corporate Directors.

Raj Rajgopal is a seasoned industry executive with over 30 years of experience working with large enterprises implementing digital strategies and driving transformational growth. He is currently the President of RR Advisory Services, LLC, an advisory firm he founded in 2019 that offers due diligence and consulting services to venture capital and private equity investors. Prior to that, he served in various leadership roles at Virtusa Corporation, including President, where he successfully led the company’s growth from under $50 million to a leading digital solutions provider with revenues of more than $1 billion. During his tenure as President at Virtusa, he supported the company’s 28 consecutive quarters of growth and led due diligence efforts on a number of successful acquisitions. Prior to Virtusa, he held multiple leadership roles in both the U.S. and the U.K. at Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation. At Capgemini, he helped technology and telecommunication clients build differentiated strategies to scale their business. He was also a Director of Advanced Technologies at BGS Systems, Inc. He has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and advanced degrees in Computer Science, Industrial Engineering and Business. Mr. Rajgopal currently serves as a member of the Directors at CTG Corporation (Nasdaq: CTG) and as a Board Observer at Wevo Conversion.