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).

Paula Whitten-Doolin, is both an excellent leader and lawyer, frequently tasked with managing high-stakes, high-pressure situations while remaining grounded and thoughtful. She has frequently served as a strategic thought-partner for business and has worked to establish strong governance processes in her past three roles. She is respected for her integrity and ability to make tough decisions when called upon to do so. Recently, as the General Counsel of Ideanomics, a multinational eV company, Paula oversaw the legal, human resources, and environmental, social, and governance departments. Paula led her teams as the organization went through significant changes and major challenges, including an SEC investigation, the acquisition and divestiture of subsidiaries, and multiple capital raises. Previously, as the Head of Legal, Americas for Neste, Paula served on the boards of four Neste subsidiary companies, including the board of Neste’s largest acquisition in the United States to present, Mahoney Environmental. She successfully built a legal team in the Americas and helped to establish Neste as the pre-eminent sustainable aviation fuel supplier worldwide by negotiating contracts with companies including Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others. Paula began her career as a litigator at Weil, Gotshal and Manges in San Francisco. She holds a JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a BS from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In addition to her board service at Neste, she has previously served on the boards of several charitable organizations in Houston.