Yuval Wasserman

Chief Executive Officer and President

A 35-year veteran of semiconductor and electronics industries, Yuval Wasserman joined Advanced Energy in August 2007 as senior vice president of sales, marketing, and service. Later that year, he was promoted to executive vice president of sales, marketing, and service. Wasserman received additional promotions — executive vice president and chief operating officer (April 2009) and president of the thin films business unit (August 2011) — before becoming president and chief executive officer and joining the Advanced Energy board of directors in October 2014.

Prior to joining Advanced Energy, Wasserman served as president, and later, chief executive officer of Tevet Process Control Technologies, Inc. Previously, he held senior executive and management positions at Boxer Cross, Inc., a metrology company acquired by Applied Materials, Inc.; Fusion Systems, a plasma strip company that was a division of Axcelis Technologies, Inc.; and AG Associates, a semiconductor capital equipment company focused on rapid thermal processing.

Wasserman started his career at National Semiconductor, Inc., where he held various process engineering and management positions. From 2010 to 2017, Wasserman was on the board of directors of Syncroness, Inc. After it was sold, he joined the board of directors of FARO Technologies, Inc., a publicly-traded manufacturer of three-dimensional measurement, imaging and realization systems, in December 2017.

Wasserman is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) governance fellow.

Wasserman earned his bachelor of science in chemical engineering from Ben-Gurion University in Israel.

Neil D. Brinker

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President

Neil D. Brinker joined Advanced Energy in June 2018 as the chief operating officer and executive vice president.

Brinker is an experienced global leader with a broad knowledge of industrial markets and a proven track record in managing operations and delivering improved operating and financial results. Most recently, Brinker was the group president of IDEX Corporation, responsible for a broad array of products and solutions for numerous industrial applications, including measurement, control systems, and software monitoring.

Prior to IDEX, Brinker was director of global operations at Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a Danaher company, responsible for manufacturing operations, strategic planning, and M&A for several global locations.

Brinker holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University, a master of engineering from the University of Michigan, and a master of business administration from Eastern Michigan University.

Paul Oldham

Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President

Paul Oldham joined Advanced Energy in May 2018 as the chief financial officer and executive vice president. 

Oldham brings 30 years of experience in finance and administration. Previously, he was the chief financial officer of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI), a leading developer and manufacturer of laser-based production equipment. He also served as the senior vice president of administration and corporate secretary. Oldham helped lead ESI through a significant multi-year transformation which resulted in strong revenue growth and profitability.

Prior to joining ESI, he held several senior leadership positions, including vice president finance and corporate controller, vice president treasurer, and investor relations and European operations controller at Tektronix, Inc., a test, measurement, and monitoring company.

Oldham holds a bachelor of science in accounting and a master of business administration in accounting and finance from Brigham Young University.

Isabel Yang

Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President

Dr. Isabel Yang joined Advanced Energy in July 2018 as the chief technology officer and senior vice president. 

Before joining Advanced Energy, Yang served as the vice president of strategy and operations for IBM Research. She focused on driving leading-edge innovations in areas, such as artificial intelligence, healthcare solutions, and high-performance computing. Prior to her strategy role, Yang spent several years in IBM’s technology and intellectual property licensing department. Yang’s early years at IBM were spent in the semiconductor research and development center as part of the microelectronics division.

She has three patents, over 40 technical publications, and was the recipient of the Paul Rappaport Best Paper award at IEDM for her work on silicon on insulator with active substrate (SOIAS). She’s a strong believer in empowering girls to embrace careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Yang completed all of her higher education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her degrees include a bachelor of science in material science, and a master of science and doctor of philosophy in electrical engineering, specializing in solid-state physics and semiconductors. 

Tom McGimpsey

Executive Vice President-General Counsel, Government Affairs and Secretary

Tom McGimpsey joined Advanced Energy in April 2009 and now serves as its executive vice president-general counsel, government affairs, and secretary. McGimpsey also was the interim chief financial officer in 2018, the corporate development officer from 2011 to 2015, and managed the IT department from 2010 to 2013.

Prior to joining Advanced Energy, McGimpsey was vice president of operations for First Data Corporation, executive vice president of business development and chief legal officer at the McDATA Corporation, and a senior corporate attorney at US WEST, Inc. McGimpsey worked at several national law firms in private practice and was a senior engineer for Software Technology, Inc.

McGimpsey is a commissioner on the Colorado Higher Education Commission and was a commissioner on the Colorado IT Commission. McGimpsey is on the board of directors of CPP, Inc. and is an NACD board leadership fellow.

McGimpsey received his master of business administration with honors from Colorado State University, his juris doctor degree from the University of Colorado, and his bachelor of science in computer science with a minor in electrical systems from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. McGimpsey is licensed to practice in New York, Colorado, Florida, and before the US Supreme Court.

Kevin Fairbairn

Senior Vice President, Semiconductor Products

Kevin Fairbairn joined Advanced Energy in April 2017 as general manager of RF Products. In January 2019, he was promoted to senior vice president, semiconductor products. 

For more than 40 years, Fairbairn has worked extensively in high technology and semiconductors. Previously, he worked at Applied Materials for 17 years. He began in 1985 at the company's ion implant business located in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States in 1991. There, he held engineering and executive general management positions in the chemical vapor deposition and conductor etch businesses.

Subsequently, for almost eleven years, Fairbairn was the chief executive officer and president of Intevac Inc., a Nasdaq listed company. He drove Intervac's hard-drive magnetic deposition equipment and digital night-vision photonics businesses to leadership positions within their respective markets. 

Fairbairn holds a master of engineering sciences from Cambridge University and over 50 patents.

Randy Heckman

Senior Vice President, Business and Corporate Development

Randy Heckman began his career at Advanced Energy in 1990. After several role advancements, in 2002, he was promoted to vice president of Research and Development and, in August 2014, was named senior vice president of Precision Power Products. In January 2018, Heckman became the senior vice president of Business and Corporate Development. During his tenure at Advanced Energy, the company has grown from a start-up R&D firm to an international enterprise listed on the Nasdaq American Stock Exchange. Heckman's engineering leadership and product development expertise were instrumental in bringing to market the company’s flagship products and newest product platforms. In addition, his counsel was critical in the evaluation, management, and integration of several recent strategic acquisitions that have contributed to significant growth and profitability.

Prior to joining Advanced Energy, Heckman was an RF engineer at Continental Electronics Corporation in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Heckman holds a bachelor of science in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Arkansas.

Dave McCarron

Senior Vice President, Global Operations

In January 2008, Dave McCarron joined Advanced Energy as vice president of engineering, eventually moving into supply chain and worldwide operations management. Under his leadership in operations, the company has successfully cut customer lead times in half and doubled output while reducing inventory by 70 percent. McCarron has significantly improved product quality at Advanced Energy and has redefined strategies across operations, supply chain, and quality amid rapid growth.

A proven executive, effective at optimizing product development and global operations, McCarron has spent more than 30 years optimizing supply chain processes at numerous industry-leading companies. He has held several senior management positions at such prominent companies as Eaton Corporation, Applied Materials, and Dell. His success is attributable to his expert ability to develop and implement industry-changing strategy, drive operational efficiencies that scale, and instill a disciplined and metrics-driven approach to achieve results. At multiple companies, McCarron has led his teams to implement a six-sigma, sub-tier supplier management strategy, establish worldwide product development capability, lead global manufacturing expansion, and vastly improved supply chain performance.

McCarron has a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from Drexel University and a master of business administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mike McDonald

Senior Vice President, Acquisition Integration

Mike McDonald joined Advanced Energy in April 2002 as the director of engineering for the Chemical Delivery Systems group. He held additional director positions, specializing in customer-focused technology and product development.

In 2015, McDonald was promoted to vice president of global services and continued to develop new ways for customers to reduce total cost of ownership and leverage capital re-use. In 2018, McDonald was promoted to senior vice president of Advanced Energy's Specialty Power Products group. In January 2019, McDonald was named the senior vice president of Acquisition Integration. In this capacity, he strategically integrates acquired businesses for maximum profitability and growth.

McDonald began his career in 1988 working for Baker Hughes, Inc. designing and marketing various process equipment and technologies. In 1999, he was founder and chief executive officer of Mavin Technologies, a company focused on process optimization through expert control systems, fuzzy logic, neural networks, and genetic algorithms.

McDonald holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and a master of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Utah. He holds a master of business administration from the University of Michigan.

Greg Provenzano

Senior Vice President, Industrial Technologies

Greg Provenzano joined Advanced Energy in September 2016 as the senior vice president of Sales and Corporate Marketing. In January 2019, he was named the senior vice president of Industrial Technologies. He leads the advanced material processing and applied technologies teams.

For 35 years, Provenzano has provided customer solutions and driven growth within the technology space. Before joining Advanced Energy, he served as vice president of Global Semiconductor Marketing at Arrow Electronics, a fortune 100 technology solutions provider.

Previously, Provenzano was president of WPG Americas, Inc., the largest semiconductor distributor in the world. Provenzano also founded and was the chief executive officer of Octera, a successful start-up in the design services and channel sector.

Provenzano began his career at MEMEC Corp from 1985 to 2005. He advanced with the company, earning management and executive roles while revenue ramped from $12 million to $3.2 billion.

Provenzano holds a bachelor of arts degree in geology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a master of business administration from Pepperdine University, and a certificate in growth strategy for emerging companies from the Stanford School of Business.

John Williams

Vice President, Global Services

John Williams joined Advanced Energy in December 2016 as the general manager of Industrial Services. In January 2018, Williams advanced to lead Advanced Energy’s Service team, and, a year later, was promoted to vice president of Global Services.

Williams is an experienced, strategic, global business leader with a history of success. With a focus on driving vision and motivating cross-functional international teams, he delivers complex global market solutions while reducing time-to-profit. 

Previously, Williams held marketing, business development, and engineering leadership roles at Woodward, Inc. He specialized in various markets, which included commercial vehicles and heavy-frame gas tribunes. Prior to Woodward, Williams was a senior leader at MotoTron, a small subsidiary of Mercury Marine he helped sell and integrate into Woodard. Williams started his career in the automotive industry at Chrysler and DaimlerChrysler.

Williams holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, a master of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, a master of science in electronics and computer-controlled systems from Wayne State University, and a master of business administration from the University of Michigan. He holds three patents.

Frederick A. Ball

Director since 2008

Frederick A. Ball has been a director of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc., a leading supplier of innovative laser-based microfabrication solutions for industries reliant on micro technologies, since 2003, and is currently the chair of its compensation committee and a member of its audit committee. In December 2016, Ball joined the board of Engagio Inc., a leading provider of account-based marketing and sales solutions. In April 2017, Ball joined the board of Sendgrid, Inc., a leading provider of a cloud-based customer communication platform, and is currently the chair of its audit committee and a member of its nominating and governance committee.

Ball previously served as executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Marketo Inc., a leading provider of a cloud-based marketing platform, from February 2016 through August 2016. Prior to that, Ball was Marketo’s senior vice president and chief financial officer from May 2011 to February 2016. Prior to joining Marketo, Ball was the chief financial officer for a number of private and public technology companies, including Webroot Software, BigBand Networks, Inc., and Borland Software Corporation. Ball also served as vice president of mergers and acquisitions for KLA-Tencor Corporation, a manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, and prior to that as its vice president of finance. Ball was with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC for over 10 years.

Chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee
Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
Member of the Pricing Committee

Grant H. Beard

Director since 2014

Grant H. Beard currently serves as a senior executive operating partner for Blue Point Capital, a private equity firm, and as an executive in residence at Summit Partners, a global alternative investment firm.

Beard served as chairman and chief executive officer of Wynnchurch Industries, LLC, a diversified holding company investing in engineered product businesses, from January 2016 to June 2017. Beard also served as a senior advisor to Wynnchurch Capital Ltd. Prior to joining Wynnchurch, Beard served as the chairman and chief executive officer of Wolverine Advanced Materials, LLC, a Wynnchurch company, from July 2012 until October 2015. Beard served as president and chief executive officer of Constar International, Inc. from 2010 to 2012, where he led the financial and operational restructuring of Constar’s global packaging business that was later sold to Plastipak Corporation. Prior to that, Beard served as president and chief executive officer of TriMas Corporation, chairman and chief executive officer of health media, and global group president of fluid management products at Dana/Echlin Corporation. In addition, Beard served as a senior executive operating partner with Blue Point Capital from 2009 to 2014.

Beard also has experience at two private equity/merchant banking groups, Anderson Group and Oxford Investment Group, where he was actively involved in corporate development, strategy and operations management.

Chairman of the Board
Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Pricing Committee

Tina M. Donikowski

Director since 2018

Tina M. Donikowski retired from General Electric Company, a diversified industrial company, in October 2015 after 38 years with the company. She served in many senior positions during her career at General Electric Company, including most recently as vice president, global locomotive business, GE transportation, from January 2013 until her retirement.

She currently serves on the board of directors for Atlas Copco AB, a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions based in Stockholm, Sweden; CIRCO International, a leading provider of flow control solutions and other highly-engineered products and subsystems used in energy, aerospace, and industrial markets based in Burlington, Massachusetts; and Eriez Magnetics, a privately held manufacturer and designer of magnetic, vibratory, and metal detection applications based in Erie, Pennsylvania. She also serves as a member of the board of trustees, Gannon University, and the board of trustees, Boys & Girls Club of Erie, Pennsylvania.

Donikowski holds a bachelor of science in industrial engineering and an honorary doctorate from Gannon University.

Member of the Audit and Finance Committee  
Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee

Ronald C. Foster

Director since 2014

Ronald C. Foster is currently on the board of Everspin Technologies Inc., a publicly-traded provider of RAM solutions and Foster also serves as chairman of the audit committee.

Foster previously served as chief financial officer and vice president of Finance of Micron Technology, Inc. (“Micron”), a global corporation that produces forms of semiconductor devices, from April 2008 to March 2015. Foster was appointed to that position in 2008 after serving as a member of Micron’s board of directors from June 2004 to April 2005. Before joining Micron, Foster was the chief financial officer and senior vice president of FormFactor, Inc., a semiconductor wafer test equipment company. Prior to joining FormFactor, Inc., Foster served as the chief financial officer for JDS Uniphase, Inc. and Novell, Inc., and also served in various financial and operational roles at Applied Materials, Inc., Egghead Software, and Hewlett Packard Company. He previously served as a board member of Inotera Memories Inc., LUXIM Corporation, and Aptina Company.

Member of the Audit and Finance Committee
Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
Member of the Pricing Committee

Edward C. Grady

Director since 2008

Edward C. Grady is currently on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville SIUE Foundation board.

Grady served as president and chief executive officer of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc., a leading supplier of innovative laser-based microfabrication solutions for industries reliant on micro technologies, from February 2014 to September 2016. Grady served as chairman and chief executive officer of Reel Solar Inc., an early stage start-up company focused on low cost PV Solar panel production technology and process, from 2010 until February 2014. Grady retired in October 2007 from his position as president and chief executive officer of Brooks Automation, Inc. (“Brooks Automation”), a publicly-traded provider of automation solutions to the global semiconductor and other complex manufacturing industries, including clean tech and data storage. Prior to joining Brooks Automation in February 2003, he ran multiple divisions at KLA-Tencor Corporation, a publicly-traded process control company, and served as chief executive officer of Hoya Micro Mask Inc., a supplier of photomasks and services to the semiconductor industry.

Grady began his career as an engineer for Monsanto Electronic Materials Company (“MEMC”) and, during his 14 years with the company, rose to the position of vice president of worldwide sales for the EPI division of MEMC. Grady also served on several boards of other technology companies, providing cross board experience.

Chairman of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee

Thomas M. Rohrs

Director since 2006

Thomas M. Rohrs has served as executive chairman and director of Ichor Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of gas and chemical delivery systems for semiconductor process equipment since February 2012 and became its chief executive officer in September 2014. Rohrs also serves on the board of directors of Intevac, Inc., a publicly-traded leading supplier of magnetic media processing systems.

Previously, Rohrs was the chief executive officer of Skyline Solar, Inc., a solar equipment manufacturer, from June 2010 to September 2012. Rohrs had been an advisor and consultant to a number of companies, both public and private, including renewable energy companies from February 2009 to June 2010. From April 2006 to February 2009, Rohrs served as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Electroglas, Inc., a then public supplier of wafer probers and software solutions for the semiconductor industry. In July 2009, Electroglas filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, citing the dramatic decline in semiconductor manufacturing equipment resulting from the global economic recession. In August 2009, Rohrs began serving as interim chief executive officer of Electroglas, which subsequently sold substantially all of its assets. From December 2004 to March 2010, Rohrs served as a director of Electroglas. From 1997 to 2002, Rohrs was employed by Applied Materials, Inc. (“Applied”), a semiconductor equipment company, most recently as senior vice president of Global Operations, and served as a member of Applied’s executive committee.

Rohrs served on the board of directors of Vignani Technologies Pvt. Ltd., an engineering services company, from 2005 to February 2014, and Magma Design Automation, Inc., a publicly-traded electronic design automation software and design services company, from July 2003 to March 2012. Rohrs served on the board of Seque Manufacturing Services, a private manufacturing services company, from 2008 to 2015. Rohrs served on the board of directors of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. from 2003 to 2008 and was a member of its compensation and nominating committees. Rohrs served as a director of Ion Systems, Inc., a then private electrostatic control company, from 2003 until January 2006 when Ion Systems was sold.

Member of the Audit and Finance Committee
Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee

John A. Roush

Director since 2016

Mr. Roush currently serves as an operating executive advisor to private equity firms. Roush also serves as a director of Lemaitre Vascular, Inc., a publicly-traded, global provider of medical devices and implants for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease, and he is a member of its audit committee. Roush also serves as a director of Applied Life Sciences & Systems, a privately-held company that is developing automated vaccine delivery technology for the poultry industry.

Roush previously served as chief executive officer and a director of Novanta Inc., (formerly, GSI Group Inc.), a leading global supplier of precision photonic components and subsystems to original equipment manufacturers in the medical and advanced industrial markets, from December 2010 to September 2016. Roush joined Novanta after a twelve-year career with PerkinElmer, Inc., a provider of technology and services to the diagnostics, research, environmental, safety and security, industrial, and laboratory services markets, where he was a corporate officer and served in several leadership positions, most recently leading the company’s $1.2 billion environmental health segment. Prior to joining PerkinElmer, Roush held management positions with Outboard Marine Corporation, AlliedSignal, Inc., (now Honeywell International), McKinsey & Company Inc., and General Electric Company.

Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee

Yuval Wasserman

Director since 2014

Yuval Wasserman has served as president and chief executive officer, and as a director since October 2014. Wasserman joined us in August 2007 as senior vice president of sales, marketing, and service. In October 2007, Wasserman was promoted to executive vice president of sales, marketing, and service. In April 2009, he was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer of the company, and then in August 2011, he was promoted to president of the thin films business unit.

Prior to joining the company, Wasserman served as the president, and later as chief executive officer, of Tevet Process Control Technologies, Inc., a semiconductor metrology company, until July 2007. Prior to that, he held senior executive and general management positions at Boxer Cross, a metrology company acquired by Applied Materials, Inc.; Fusion Systems, a plasma strip company that is a division of Axcelis Technologies, Inc.; and AG Associates, a semiconductor capital equipment company focused on rapid thermal processing. Wasserman started his career at National Semiconductor, Inc., where he held various process engineering and management positions. Wasserman was on the board of directors of Syncroness, Inc., an outsourced engineering and product development company, from 2010 to 2017 when it was sold, and joined the board of directors of FARO Technologies, Inc., a publicly-traded, manufacturer of three-dimensional (3D) measurement, imaging, and realization systems, in December 2017.

Wasserman is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) governance fellow. He has a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from BenGurion University in Israel.