BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Sotirios J. Vahaviolos
Founder and Executive Chairman
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Dr. Vahaviolos is our Executive Chairman, and until August 10, 2017, had been our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since he founded Mistras in 1978 under the name Physical Acoustics Corp. Prior to forming Mistras, Dr. Vahaviolos was a scientist and manager at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Dr. Vahaviolos received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and graduated first in his engineering class from Fairleigh Dickinson University and received a Master of Science (EE), Masters in Philosophy and a Ph.D.(EE) from Columbia University School of Engineering. During Dr. Vahaviolos’ career in non-destructive testing, he has been elected Fellow of (1) The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, (2) The American Society of Nondestructive Testing, and (3) The Acoustic Emission Working Group (AEWG). Dr. Vahaviolos is also a member of The American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), where he served as its President from 1992-1993 and its Chairman from 1993-1994, a member of AEWG and an honorary life board member of the International Committee for Nondestructive Testing. Additionally, he was the recipient of ASNT’s Gold Medal in 2001 and AEWG’s Gold Medal in 2005. He was also one of the six founders of NDT Academia International in 2008.
Dr. Vahaviolos brings to the Board his detailed knowledge and unique perspective and insights regarding the strategic and operational opportunities and challenges, economic and industry trends, and competitive and financial positioning of our business. In addition, his significant experience as the company’s founder, Chairman and CEO, his leadership of our Company for almost four decades during various economic cycles and his 40% ownership interest in the Company positions him well to serve as our Executive Chairman.
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Dennis M. Bertolotti
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO); Director
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Dennis Bertolotti is our President and CEO, having taken over as CEO on August 10, 2017, at which time he was elected to the Board by all our directors. Prior to becoming our CEO, Mr. Bertolotti was our President and Chief Operating Officer, positions he assumed June 1, 2016. Prior to becoming President and COO, Mr. Bertolotti was the Group Executive Vice President, Services America. Mr. Bertolotti has been with Mistras since the Company acquired Conam Inspection Services in 2003, where Mr. Bertolotti was a Vice President at the time of the acquisition. Mr. Bertolotti has been in the NDT business for over 30 years, and previously held American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) Level III certifications and various American Petroleum Institute, or API, certifications, and received his Associate of Science degree in NDT from Moraine Valley Community College in 1983. Mr. Bertolotti has also received a Bachelor of Science and MBA from Otterbein College.
Mr. Bertolotti brings to the Board his in-depth knowledge of the operations of the business, including the strategic and operational opportunities and challenges we face. Mr. Bertolotti has proven during his ever-increasing levels of responsibilities with the Company that he has excellent vision and strategic perspective as to the direction of our industry and how to position us to take advantage of future changes in customer demands. Mr. Bertolotti was named our CEO due in part to the strong leadership has demonstrated over the past several years, and he will bring these leadership skills to the Board.
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Nicholas DeBenedictis
Director
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Nicholas DeBenedictis served as Chief Executive Officer of Aqua America, Inc. from 1992 until his retirement in 2015, and was the Chairman of the Board of Aqua America from 1993 until his retirement as CEO in 2015, and thereafter held the position of non-executive Chairman of the Board until December 2017. Mr. DeBenedictis is now on the Aqua America board as Chairman Emeritus. Mr. DeBenedictis served as Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs of PECO Energy Company (now known as Exelon Corporation) from 1989 until 1992; as President of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce from December 1986 to April 1989; and as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources from 1983 to 1986. Mr. DeBenedictis is also a director of Exelon Corporation and P.H. Glatfelter Company, and also serves on the boards of various Pennsylvania area non-profit, civic and business organizations. Mr. DeBenedictis received a B.S. in business administration and a M.S. in environmental engineering and science from Drexel University and has received honorary doctorates from Drexel University, Misericordia University and Widener University.
The Board believes that Mr. DeBenedictis is a qualified candidate because of his knowledge, experience and demonstrated success from serving for over 20 years as the chairman and chief executive officer of a substantial public company. He has also served as an executive of a major electric utility, the head of Pennsylvania’s environmental regulatory agency, and as a director of two other public companies in addition to his role as Chairman at Aqua America, including, from time to time, as a member of the corporate governance, audit, finance and compensation committees of those companies. The Board believes that the experience, insights and knowledge Mr. DeBenedictis has from his leadership roles in business and community activities are important qualifications, skills and experience that will provide valuable assistance to the Board and greatly contribute to the overall knowledge of the Board and its ability to address the issues the Board and we confront.
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James J. Forese
Director
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Mr. Forese is the recently retired Operating Partner and Chief Operating Officer of HCI Equity Partners, positions he has held since he joined the firm in 2003. Prior to joining HCI Equity Partners, Mr. Forese served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of IKON Office Solutions, Inc. (formerly Alco Standard Corporation) from 1998 to 2002 and retired as Chairman in 2003. Before IKON, Mr. Forese served as Controller and Vice President of Finance at IBM Corporation and Chairman at IBM Credit Corporation. Mr. Forese was a director and a chairman of the audit committee and a member of the compensation committee and environmental, health & safety committee of Progressive Waste Solutions, and non-executive chairman since 2010 until its merger with Waste Connections, Inc. in 2017, and serves on the board of directors of several private companies. Mr. Forese also served as a director, audit committee chair and member of the compensation committee of Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. from 2003 until 12 2008 and was on the board of directors of SFN Group (formerly Spherion Corporation) from 2003 until its acquisition by Randstad North America in 2011, and was its non-executive chairman and chairman of the corporate governance and nominating committee. Mr. Forese was also formerly a director of Lexmark International, NUI Corporation, Southeast Bank Corporation, Unisource Worldwide, Inc. and American Management Systems, Incorporated. Mr. Forese received a B.E.E. in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Board believes Mr. Forese, as a result of his vast experience and demonstrated success as an executive, possesses knowledge and experience in various areas, including business leadership, banking, finance, technology, and public and private company board experience, which strengthens the Board’s overall knowledge, capabilities and experience. In addition, Mr. Forese’s experience with audit committees and his tenure as Vice President of Finance and Controller at IBM provides the Board with an audit committee financial expert which further strengthens key functions of the Board and Audit Committee, such as oversight of financial reporting and internal controls.
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Richard H. Glanton
Director
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Mr. Glanton is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ElectedFace, Inc., an online service that connects people to elected officials. He formerly served as the CEO and Chairman of Philadelphia Television Network, a privately-held media company. From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Glanton served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Exelon Corporation and from 1986 to 2003, he was a partner in the law firm of Reed Smith LLP in Philadelphia. Mr. Glanton currently serves on the Board of The GEO Group, Inc., where he is chairman of the audit and finance committee and the compensation committee and serves on the nominating and corporate governance committee, executive committee and various other standing committees; and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Lincoln University. Mr. Glanton has more than 25 years of legal experience in law firms, over a decade of executive experience and has close to 30 years of continuous experience serving on boards of publicly traded companies. Mr. Glanton received a B.A. in English from West Georgia College and a J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law.
The Board believes Mr. Glanton’s experience and knowledge in acquisitions, the power utility industry, legal and general business matters, his extensive experience as a director of publicly traded companies and his demonstrated leadership roles in other business activities are important qualifications, skills and experience that benefits the Board. His extensive corporate finance and legal knowledge also contribute to the Board’s collective knowledge, capabilities and experience.
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Michelle J. Lohmeier
Director
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Michelle J. Lohmeier has served as a Director since May 2019. Ms. Lohmeier is currently serving as a senior advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of Spirit AeroStructures, having recently retired from her position as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Airbus Programs at Spirit AeroStructures, a position she held since June 2015. Prior to joining Spirit AeroStructures, Ms. Lohmeier held many senior positions during her years at Raytheon Company, her last position being Vice President of the Land Warfare Systems product line at Raytheon Missile Systems. In that position, Ms. Lohmeier had responsibility for the development and production of all Army and U.S. Marine Corps missile programs. Previously, Ms. Lohmeier was the program director for the design, development and production implementation of the Standard Missile-6 weapon system for the U.S. Navy. Ms. Lohmeier also served as the production chief engineer for the AMRAAM Program. In addition, Ms. Lohmeier directed Software Engineering, where she was responsible for software development, software quality and configuration management for all Missile Systems programs. She began her career with Hughes Aircraft Company as a system test engineer. Ms. Lohmeier earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Arizona.
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Manuel N. Stamatakis
Director
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Mr. Stamatakis is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Management Enterprises, Inc., a financial services and employee benefits consulting company headquartered in Pennsylvania. Mr. Stamatakis was also a founding member of First Financial Resources, a national financial services organization with over 120 offices nationwide. Over the years, Mr. Stamatakis has served on the boards of numerous not-for-profit, charitable and for-profit organizations, and currently serves, among others, as Chairman of the Board of Visit Philadelphia, where he is also a member of the audit and finance committees; Chairman of Philadelphia Shipyard Development Corporation; and Chairman of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Investment Advisory Board. Mr. Stamatakis received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and received an honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from Drexel University.
The Board believes that the vast skills, leadership, business experience and success Mr. Stamatakis has demonstrated as a founder and leader of a successful services business provides the Board with important skills, knowledge and experience, particularly those gained from starting and leading a business. Mr. Stamatakis also provides the Board with knowledge of employee benefits and related matters and with strategic and leadership skills as a founder, President and CEO of a business enterprise and as a board member of numerous not-for-profit and for-profit organizations, some of which are very significant in size and scope.
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Charles P. Pizzi
Director
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Mr. Charles Pizzi served as President & CEO of the NASDAQ-listed Tasty Baking Company, a Philadelphia-based snack manufacturer with distribution across the United States, from 2002 to 2011. Prior to this role, Mr. Pizzi was President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce for 13 years, overseeing a record growth in membership. Mr. Pizzi has served on the Board of Directors of Independence Health Group since 1991 and as Chairman of the Board since 2018, where he has contributed to the company’s revenue growth from $3 billion to $19 billion. He also serves as Lead Director for Pennsylvania Realty Trust, and on the boards for Brandywine Realty Trust and Franklin Square Energy and Global Opportunity Funds. Previously, he served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia from 2010-2011, and as a Director 2008 to 2011. Mr. Pizzi is an active participant in civic and community affairs, holding board member positions for multiple non-profit organizations spanning education, fine arts, and industrial development. In 2009, Mr. Pizzi was awarded the William Penn Award, the highest honor in the Greater Philadelphia business community. Mr. Pizzi graduated with a B.A. from La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA), earned an M.S. at the University of Pennsylvania, and received an honorary doctorate from St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia, PA).