Steve Kelley

President and Chief Executive Officer

A semiconductor industry leader with more than 30 years of experience, Steve Kelley joined Advanced Energy as president and chief executive officer in March 2021. In addition, he serves on the company’s board of directors. A high-impact technology executive, Kelley is renowned for leading some of the world’s largest global companies through financial growth and transformation.

Prior to Advanced Energy, Kelley served as president and chief executive officer of Amkor Technology, Inc., a leading semiconductor package and test company, leading its financial transformation by prioritizing strong revenue growth, efficiency gains, and a culture of continuous quality improvement. Kelley also held executive leadership roles at various semiconductor manufacturing companies including Cree, Texas Instruments, and Philips Semiconductors (now NXP Semiconductors), where he focused primarily on revenue growth through the timely development of new products and services.

Kelley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Santa Clara University.

Paul Oldham

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

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

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 that resulted in strong revenue growth and profitability.

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

Oldham holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration in accounting and finance from Brigham Young University.

Eduardo Bernal

Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer

Eduardo Bernal joined Advanced Energy in September 2021 as executive vice president and chief operations officer. He is based in Singapore, the headquarters for the company’s global operations.

Bernal has more than 30 years of experience managing global operations in the semiconductor industry and has successfully led large, complex, global organizations through phases of significant growth and transformation. He joined Advanced Energy from NXP Semiconductors, where he was senior vice president of assembly and test operations, responsible for a global footprint of multiple factories with a team of 12,000 employees. Prior to this, Bernal was with Texas Instruments, where he held various leadership roles in operations, manufacturing, planning, and quality.

Bernal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the Technological Institute of Aguascalientes in Mexico, and is a graduate of the Leading Organization & Change program from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Elizabeth K. Vonne

Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Elizabeth K. Vonne joined Advanced Energy in April 2022 as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary.

Vonne has more than 20 years of experience in the legal field. She joined Advanced Energy from Mesa Laboratories, Inc., a multinational manufacturer of critical quality control solutions and life science tools, where she served as vice president, legal, general counsel and secretary. Prior to this, Vonne was a partner at Davis, Graham & Stubbs LLP, a leading law firm that focuses on corporate transactions, complex litigation and regulatory compliance. Previously, she was an associate attorney with Clearly Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York City.

Vonne received her Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, her Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College and studied law at The University of Tokyo.

Rory O’Byrne

Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer

Rory O’Byrne joined Advanced Energy in May 2020 as senior vice president and chief people officer. O’Byrne leads Advanced Energy’s global human resources and environmental, health and safety organizations. He is responsible for leading the company’s vision and strategy around people and organizational effectiveness while advancing a culture that embraces performance, growth, and inclusion across the company’s global diverse workforce.

O’Byrne has more than 25 years of global and international human resources experience with leading public and private equity-backed companies in the technology, energy, industrial, and services sectors. Before joining Advanced Energy, he served as executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Jonah Energy LLC, one of the largest privately held natural gas producers in the U.S. Prior to this, O’Byrne served as senior vice president and chief human resources officer for MRC Global, the world’s leading global supplier of industrial products and services to the energy industry. He held global and international human resources leadership roles at BG Group, McDermott International, Hess Corporation, and BHP.

O’Byrne holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources and industrial relations from the University of Western Australia in Perth, Western Australia, and is a graduate of the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School.

Randy Heckman

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Randy L. Heckman joined Advanced Energy in October 1990 and currently serves as the company’s senior vice president and chief technology officer. He is responsible for organic and inorganic investments in research and development that will accelerate new growth opportunities and inform the company’s merger and acquisition activities. Prior to assuming his current role in July 2021, he held senior product development, corporate development, and technical leadership roles at Advanced Energy.

Heckman brings over 30 years of experience in RF and DC power systems research and design, delivering advanced power technology solutions for semiconductor, industrial, medical, and life science applications. He started his career with Continental Electronics, a former division of Varian Associates, developing high power transmitters for commercial and military applications.

Heckman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arkansas and has several U.S. and international patents.

Juergen Braun

Senior Vice President, Plasma Power Products

Juergen Braun joined Advanced Energy in July 2007 and now serves as senior vice president of plasma power products. In his current role, Braun leads the plasma power and service business. Prior to his current role, he held several leadership positions within the company including vice president and general manager of the thin film group, general manager of the photonics group, and managing director of Advanced Energy’s EMEA sales office.

Braun brings over 20 years of experience in semiconductor manufacturing with a successful record of implementing strategic business plans, leading cross-functional international teams, as well as delivering revenue and market share growth.

Braun holds a Diploma in chemistry from the University of Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where he also completed his Ph.D. thesis on CVD growth of silicon and germanium on Si.

Maria Cortez

Senior Vice President, Industrial Power Products

Maria Cortez joined Advanced Energy in April 2022 as senior vice president of industrial power products.

Cortez has more than 25 years of experience in the electronics manufacturing sector. She joined Advanced Energy from Texas Instruments, where she led the Integrated Power Management business. Prior to this, Cortez held leadership, product marketing and technical roles with NXP Semiconductor and Motorola.

Maria holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas.

John Donaghey

Senior Vice President and Global Head of Sales

John Donaghey joined Advanced Energy in July 2021 as senior vice president and global head of sales. He leads Advanced Energy’s global team of account managers, technical sales managers, operations and planning personnel, as well as channel partners to drive and manage revenue for the company.

Donaghey has 30 years of experience in the electronics manufacturing industry. Before joining Advanced Energy, he spent seven years in senior sales and business leadership roles at Amkor Technology, most recently as global leader of sales. Prior to this, Donaghey spent 23 years with Texas Instruments in various leadership, sales, and marketing roles.

Donaghey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University.

Kevin Fairbairn

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development

Kevin Fairbairn joined Advanced Energy in April 2017 and now serves as senior vice president of corporate development. Before assuming his current role, he held senior leadership positions at Advanced Energy as senior vice president and general manager of semiconductor products, as well as general manager of RF products.

Fairbairn has more than 30 years of experience in high technology processing equipment addressing semiconductors, photovoltaics, flat panel, and hard drive disks application markets. Prior to Advanced Energy, Fairbairn was chief executive officer and president of Intevac, Inc. and held senior leadership roles at Applied Materials, where he was instrumental in the development of multiple new products and process applications including ion implant, SACVD, HDPCVD, PECVD, low k films, lithography films, integrated metrology, conductor etch, and mask etch.

Fairbairn holds a Master of Arts in engineering sciences from Cambridge University in England and has more than 50 patents.

Peter Gillespie

Senior Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Marketing

Peter Gillespie joined Advanced Energy in January 2019 and now serves as senior vice president of strategic and corporate marketing. This is his second tenure at the company. Gillespie has held various leadership roles at Advanced Energy including senior vice president of semiconductor and computing products, vice president and general manager of semiconductor products, as well as vice president of global sales.

Between positions at Advanced Energy, Gillespie was chief marketing officer at SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain. Prior to his first tenure at Advanced Energy, Gillespie was president of Tevet Process Control Technologies (acquired by Onto Innovation) and held leadership positions at KLA, Boxer Cross (acquired by Applied Materials), Fusion Semiconductor (now Axcelis), and Intertek.

Gillespie serves on SEMI’s Board of Industry Leaders and on California Polytechnic (Cal Poly) State University College of Engineering Advisory Board. He holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Cal Poly State University – San Luis Obispo and has completed post-graduate courses in marketing, innovation, and finance at Stanford University.

Emdrem Tan

Senior Vice President, High Volume Products

Emdrem Tan joined Advanced Energy in June 2021 as senior vice president of high volume products. In his current role, he provides strategic leadership and guidance across R&D, product development, marketing, operations, and service for Advanced Energy’s high volume products business.

Tan brings over 40 years of experience in the semiconductor industry with leadership roles in sales, marketing, manufacturing, and business development in Asia and the U.S. An experienced global business leader, he has a successful record of delivering revenue growth, market share gain, as well as successful development of new products. Prior to joining Advanced Energy, he held senior leadership positions at Amkor Technology, Inc., Diodes, Inc., and Texas Instruments.

Tan holds a Master of Business Administration from Brunel University in London.

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.

Chair of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Pricing Committee

Grant H. Beard

Chairman since 2016 and 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, Inc., 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.

Chair of the Pricing Committee 

Anne DelSanto

Director since 2020

Anne DelSanto is a limited partner at Operator Collective and Stage2Capital. From February 2018 to April 2019, DelSanto served as the executive vice president and general manager of platform at Salesforce.com, a customer relationship management company, following six years of other senior leadership roles at the company. Prior to Salesforce, DelSanto served as group vice president of sales engineering at Oracle. She began her career as an account systems engineer with IBM, where she spent several years building solutions for the health care market. She serves on the board of Juniper Networks and New Relic. DelSanto graduated with a degree in mathematics from St. John's University and earned a master of science in administrative studies from Boston College.

Member of the Compensation Committee

Member of the Nominating, Governance, and Sustainability 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; CIRCOR 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 and Girls Club of Erie, Pennsylvania.

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

Chair of the Nominating, Governance, and Sustainability Committee
Member of the Audit and Finance 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.

Chair of the Audit and Finance 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 microtechnologies, 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 cleantech 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.

Member of the Audit and Finance Committee

Steve Kelley

Director since 2021

Steve Kelley has served as chief executive officer, president, and director since March 2021. 

Prior to Advanced Energy, he served as president and chief executive officer of Amkor Technology, Inc., a leading semiconductor package and test company, leading its financial transformation by prioritizing strong revenue growth, efficiency gains, and a culture of continuous quality improvement. Kelley also held executive leadership roles at various semiconductor manufacturing companies including Cree, Texas Instruments, and Philips Semiconductor (now NXP Semiconductors), where he focused primarily on revenue growth through the timely development of new products and services.

Kelley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Santa Clara University.

Lanesha Minnix

Director since 2020

Lanesha Minnix is the chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Flowserve Corporation, a publicly-traded manufacturer of engineered and industrial pumps, valves, and seals for a range of industries. Prior to joining Flowserve, Minnix served as senior vice president and general counsel for BMC Stock Holdings, a leading provider of diversified building products and services, from June 2017 until June 2018. Minnix served as vice president, deputy general counsel, and chief compliance officer for ABM Industries, a facility solutions company, from May 2012 until May 2017. Prior to joining ABM, Minnix held roles with increasing responsibility at both Royal Dutch Shell/Shell Oil Company and Sprint Corporation.

Member of the Nominating, Governance, and Sustainability Committee

Member of the Audit and Finance Committee

David Reed

Director since 2022

Mr. Reed has principally served as Executive Vice President - Operations of NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI), a world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications. In this role, Mr. Reed was responsible for NXP's internal and external manufacturing operations, supply chain, information technology, total quality and procurement. Mr. Reed joined NXP in 2015, having served as general manager at Freescale until the merger with NXP. Mr. Reed has 30 years of extensive international experience with global execution of wafer fab, assembly/test, packaging, R&D, foundries and joint ventures for Analog, Automotive, Logic and Wireless customers. Mr. Reed joined Freescale Semiconductor In 2012 as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Operations. Previously, Mr. Reed was Vice President and General Manager at GLOBALFOUNDRIES and began his career at Texas Instruments in 1984 where he held multiple overseas and leadership assignments. Mr. Reed received his undergraduate degree from Austin College, an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Dallas.

Member of the Compensation Committee

John A. Roush

Director since 2016

John A. 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 Compensation Committee
Member of the Nominating, Governance, and Sustainability Committee