GraphOn Management and Board

GraphOn's leadership position in the remote application access and Web-enabling industry has been guided by experienced technology pioneers and industry leaders. Below is a brief description of GraphOn’s board of directors and executive management team.

Steven Ledger, Chairman of the Board

Steven Ledger joined GraphOn’s board of directors in 2011. He was named chairman of the board in January 2012. Mr. Ledger is the founder and managing partner of Tamalpais Partners LLC, formed in 2002 as an investor in, and advisor to, emerging growth companies. From 2002 to 2008, Tamalpais Partners served as the general partner of the MCF Focus Fund LP, an investment partnership focused on undiscovered, emerging small capitalization companies. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Ledger was a co-founder and managing partner of eCompanies Venture Management LLC, a venture capital management company that was the general partner to eCompanies Venture Group LP, an investment partnership focused on Internet technology businesses. From 1994 to 1999, he served as co-founder and manager of Storie Partners LP, an investment partnership focused on both privately held and publicly traded, emerging technology companies. He served as portfolio manager for Kayne Anderson Investment Management from 1989 to 1993 and for Fidelity Management and Research from 1983 to 1989. Mr. Ledger also serves as chairman of the board at Crossroads Systems, Inc., a global provider of data security and protection systems, and as a director at Broadcast International, Inc., a provider of IP based video delivery solutions and services. He earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut in 1982.

Eldad Eilam, Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Eldad Eilam joined GraphOn as chief technology officer in 2011. In 2012, he was named director, president, and chief executive officer. Mr. Eilam is a technology expert in the Windows operating system, mobile user interfaces, and advanced software development tools. He has over 15 years of experience in software technology development. Prior to joining GraphOn, he held a technical position at Microsoft and senior positions at Emblaze and Menta Software. He is the author of the book "Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering".

Christoph Berlin, Chief Operating Officer

Christoph Berlin was named GraphOn's chief operating officer in 2012. Previously, he served as GraphOn’s vice president of product management and marketing. Before joining GraphOn, Mr. Berlin was senior manager of the XenClient partner/product management team at Citrix Systems, where he was responsible for evangelizing and driving client virtualization with key strategic partners. Before that, he was manager of engineering escalations at XenSource prior to its acquisition by Citrix. In addition to his Citrix experience, Mr. Berlin held previous positions in both networking and security technology companies.

Sam M. Auriemma, Director

Sam Auriemma was appointed to GraphOn's board of directors in July 2012. He is a veteran financial executive with over 30 years of senior-level experience at a variety of technology companies. Throughout his career, Mr. Auriemma has been responsible for over 25 acquisitions and divestitures with combined cash considerations in excess of $1.5 billion. Most recently, Mr. Auriemma held the position of executive vice president and chief financial officer at MSC Software where he worked closely with the executive team to right size the company’s operations, generate greater earnings and cash flow, and ultimately complete a $400 million buy-out to a private equity fund. Prior to that, Mr. Auriemma served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at IBM/FileNet Corporation. At FileNet he helped orchestrate a $1.6 billion sale to IBM, thereby creating significant value for the company’s shareholders. Mr. Auriemma also held executive positions at Wonderware Corporation, Platinum Technology/Locus Computing Corporation, Distributed Logic Corporation, and Applied Circuit Technology. Mr. Auriemma currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) Children’s Foundation and is a member of the board of trustees at St. Mary’s school. He is a certified public accountant and holds a BS degree from the University of Southern California.

Michael Brochu, Director

Michael Brochu joined the board of directors in April 2012. He has over 20 years of senior-level experience at a variety of global companies. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Global Market Insite (GMI), a developer of technology platforms serving the market research industry. GMI was acquired by WPP in September 2011. Before that, he served as president and CEO of Loudeye Corporation, a worldwide leader in business-to-business digital media solutions that was acquired by Nokia Corporation in 2006. From 1997 to 2004, he was president and CEO of Primus Knowledge Solutions, which consummated its initial public offering in 1999 and was acquired by Art Technology Group in 2004. Primus developed award-winning software, enabling companies to provide a superior customer experience via contact centers, help desks, Web self-service, and electronic communication channels. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Brochu served as president and COO of Sierra On-Line, Inc., one of the world’s largest publishers of interactive entertainment, educational, and home productivity software. He spearheaded efforts that increased sales by more than 300 percent, culminating with the acquisition of Sierra On-Line by CUC International in 1996 for more than US $1 billion. Mr. Brochu currently sits on the board of directors of Centro Digital Media, Vines of Mendoza, and Zotec Partners, and on the advisory board of Seattle-based venture capital firm Voyager Capital, which was also one of GMI’s early institutional investors. Mr. Brochu was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000.

John Cronin, Director

John Cronin joined the board of directors in 2011. He is the founder, managing director and chairman of ipCapital Group, a leading intellectual property strategy firm and a strategic GraphOn partner. Prior to founding ipCapital, Mr. Cronin was a distinguished inventor at IBM for 17 years where he patented 100 inventions, published over 150 technical papers, and received IBM’s “Most Distinguished Inventor Award”. As a member of the senior technical staff at the prestigious IBM Academy, Mr. Cronin led an intellectual asset team that spearheaded efforts to produce and manage the development of the company’s intellectual property. Eventually known as “The IBM Patent Factory,” this select group supported the division that increased IBM’s annual licensing revenue from $30 million in 1992 to more than $1 billion in 1997 when he left IBM. Mr. Cronin also serves on the board of directors at Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), Armor Designs, Inc., and Primal Inc.  He holds a BSEE, an MSEE, and a BA degree in Psychology from the University of Vermont.

August P. Klein, Director

August Klein has served as a GraphOn director since 1998. In 1995 Mr. Klein founded JSK Corporation, a general contracting firm. Mr. Klein was an initial member of JSK Corporation's board of directors and served as its initial chief executive officer until his retirement in 1999. Mr. Klein remains a member of JSK Corporation's board of directors. From 1989 to 1993, he was founder and chief executive officer of Uniquest, Inc., an object-oriented application software company. From 1984 to 1988, Mr. Klein served as chief executive officer of Masscomp, Inc., a developer of high performance real time mission critical systems and UNIX-based applications. He has served as group vice president, serial printers at Data Products Corporation and president and chief executive officer at Integral Data Systems, a manufacturer of personal computer printers. Mr. Klein spent 25 years with the IBM Corporation, rising to a senior executive position as general manager of the Retail/Distribution Business unit. Mr. Klein currently serves as a trustee of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society and as a trustee of the Computer Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. During the five-year period ended December, 31 2009, he served as a director of the privately-held QuickSite Corporation. Mr. Klein holds a B.S. in Mathematics from St. Vincent College.

Gordon M. Watson, Director

Gordon M. Watson has served as a GraphOn director since 2002. Mr. Watson brings over 30 years' executive, board and management experience to the GraphOn board. In 1997, he founded Watson Consulting, LLC, a consulting company for early stage technology companies, and has served as its president since its inception. From 1996 to 1997, Mr. Watson served as western regional director, Lotus Consulting of Lotus Development (subsidiary of IBM).  From 1988 to 1996, he held various positions with Platinum Technology, Inc., most recently serving as vice president business development, distributed solutions. Earlier positions included: president, Local Data, Inc. and formally senior vice president of sales; president, Troy Division, Data Card Corp.; and vice president and general manager, Minicomputer Division, Computer Automation, Inc.  Mr. Watson also held various executive and director level positions with TRW, Inc., Varian Data Machines, and Computer Usage Company. Mr. Watson holds a BSEE from UCLA. He has also taught at the University of California at Irvine, and lectured at IEEE events. He was formally a board member of DPAC Technologies (DPAC) prior to its merger.  He has also served on boards for a number of privately held tech companies.

Robert Dixon, Interim Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

Robert Dixon has served as GraphOn's interim chief financial officer and secretary since May 2012. Previously, he served as GraphOn's controller since March 2000. From September 1998 to February 2000, Mr. Dixon was senior internal auditor at Johnson and Johnson. From April 1996 to September 1998, he served as supervisor of audit technology at the consulting division of Moore Stephens, P.C., an international public accounting firm. Prior to that, Mr. Dixon held various managerial and staff positions with leading companies in the oil and gas and financial services industries, including Hess Corporation and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since June 2012, he has served as vice president of the board of directors for Pacific Collegiate School, one of the nation’s top performing public charter high schools. From June 2011 through May 2012, he also served as treasurer for PCS. From February 2005 to May 2010, Mr. Dixon served as a trustee and treasurer for Santa Cruz Montessori School, a private elementary school. Mr. Dixon is a graduate of the University of New Haven and is a certified public accountant in the State of New Jersey.