Board of Directors

Jason Rhode, Ph.D., was named president and chief executive officer in May 2007. Previously, Dr. Rhode served as vice president and general manager of Cirrus Logic's Mixed Signal Audio Division, where he oversaw the revitalization of Cirrus Logic's strong portfolio of analog and mixed-signal converter ICs for consumer and professional audio markets. Previously, Rhode served as director of marketing for analog and mixed signal products.

Rhode joined Cirrus Logic upon completion of his doctorate degree in 1995 from North Carolina State University, serving as an analog design engineer. Rhode assumed roles as design manager in 1998 and became director of Marketing in 2002.

A member of IEEE, Jason has been issued 19 U.S. patents in the area of mixed signal technologies.

Rhode holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from San Diego State University, as well as a masters of science in electrical engineering and a doctorate from North Carolina State University.

Mr. Carter is currently a Principal at TCGen, which is a management consulting and advisory services firm that Mr. Carter founded in 2002 and is located in Menlo Park, California. Between November 2007 and January 2008, Mr. Carter was an Executive in Residence at Vantage Point Venture Partners in San Bruno, California, where he assisted in the management of several portfolio companies. Mr. Carter also served as Chief Technical Officer at Klipsch Group in Indianapolis, Indiana, between February 2005 and October 2007. Prior to working at Klipsch Group, he was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technical Officer at Aurora Worldwide, Inc., a private equity investment and holding company focused on the consumer audio market between April 2004 and February 2005. Mr. Carter began his career as an engineer at Bose Corporation in 1978, later becoming its Chief Engineer.

Mr. Dehne, is currently Vice President of Global Marketing at Luminex Corporation, an Austin-based company that develops, manufactures, and markets innovative biological testing technologies with applications throughout the life science and diagnostic industries. He previously worked at National Instruments Corporation, an Austin-based supplier of measurement and automation products used by engineers and scientists in a wide range of industries, as Senior Vice President of Research & Development. Mr. Dehne spent over 21 years at National Instruments where he held many leadership positions while helping to significantly grow the Company to more than 4,000 employees and over $800 million in annual revenue. Prior to his role as Senior Vice President, Research & Development at National Instruments, Mr. Dehne served in various executive positions in marketing and engineering. Mr. Dehne holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University and serves on the Board of Directors for Asset Intertech, a privately held company, where he also serves on its Compensation Committee.

Mr. Schuele has been a general partner since 2000 with Sevin Rosen Funds, a high tech venture capital firm, and currently is a director of Javelin Semiconductor, InfoNow Corp., and InnovaLight, Inc. Prior to Sevin Rosen, he was chief executive officer of Benchmarq Microelectronics and served as president, chief operating officer and a director of the Board of Unitrode Corp. after its merger with Benchmarq. During his nearly 40 years of high tech experience, he has held various executive and sales management positions in several semiconductor companies including Cirrus Logic, Crystal Semiconductor, Cypress Semiconductor and Mostek.

William Sherman is a senior partner with the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP, where he has worked since 1987. From March 2000 to March 2002, Mr. Sherman also served as Vice President and General Counsel of CopperCom, Inc., a telecommunications equipment manufacturer.

Robert Smith is the retired Executive Vice President of Administration of Novellus Systems, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of systems used in the fabrication of integrated circuits, where he also served on the Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Epicor Software Corporation, an enterprise and e‑business software solutions company; PLX Technology, Inc., a developer and supplier of data transfer semiconductor devices; Virage Logic Corporation, a provider of semiconductor intellectual property platforms and development tools; and ON Semiconductor, a supplier of power components and systems to designers of computers, communications, consumer, and industrial systems.

Ms. Wang has served since October 2003 on the Board of Directors of Altera Corp., a programmable logic solutions supplier, after retiring from her position as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Solectron Corp., a worldwide provider of electronics manufacturing services, which she joined in 1984. Wang is also a director for Rae Systems Inc., a developer of sensory technology for hazardous materials, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., a solar energy company, and Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company.