Board of Directors and Committees

Board of Directors

Newport's Board of Directors currently consists of the following eight members:

Kenneth F. Potashner was elected to the Board in 1998. He served as the Board's Lead Independent Director from August 2003 to August 2006. In September 2007, Mr. Potashner was appointed as Chairman of the Board. From May 2003 to present, Mr. Potashner has been an independent investor. From 1996 to May 2003, Mr. Potashner was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Maxwell Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of ultracapacitors, microelectronics and high voltage capacitors, and he also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Maxwell Technologies from 1996 to October 1998. From November 1998 to August 2002, Mr. Potashner was President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of SONICblue Incorporated (formerly S3 Incorporated), a supplier of digital media appliances and services. Mr. Potashner was Executive Vice President and General Manager of Disk Drive Operations for Conner Peripherals, a manufacturer of storage systems, from 1994 to 1996. From 1991 to 1994, he was Vice President, Worldwide Product Engineering for Quantum Corporation, a manufacturer of disk drives. From 1981 to 1991, he held various engineering management positions with Digital Equipment Corporation, a manufacturer of computers and peripherals, culminating with the position of Vice President of Worldwide Product Engineering in 1991. Mr. Potashner also serves on the boards of directors of one other public company and several private companies.

Christopher Cox was appointed to the Board in November 2011. Since July 2009, Mr. Cox has been a partner in the Corporate Practice Group of Bingham McCutchen LLP, an international law firm, and since July 2011, he has been President of the firm's subsidiary, Bingham Consulting LLC, an international legal consulting firm. Prior to joining Bingham, from August 2005 to January 2009, he served as the 28th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). From 1994 to 2005, Mr. Cox served in the elected majority leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first elected to Congress in 1988, and during his career served as Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security following the September 11th attacks; Chairman of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China; Chairman of the House Policy Committee; Chairman of the Task Force on Capital Markets; Chairman of the Task Force on Budget Process Reform; and Co-Chairman of the Bipartisan Study Group on Enhancing Multilateral Export Controls. From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Cox served as a White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan. Previously, he had been a partner in the international law firm of Latham & Watkins, specializing in corporate and securities matters, and a member of the faculty of Harvard Business School, where he taught federal income tax.

Robert L. Guyett was elected to the Board in 1990. Since April 1996, Mr. Guyett has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Crescent Management Enterprises, LLC, a financial management and investment advisory services firm. Since January 2000, he has also served on the Board of Directors of Maxwell Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of ultracapacitors, microelectronics and high voltage capacitors, and from May 2010 to May 2011, and from May 2003 to May 2007 served as Chairman of that board. From May 1995 to December 1996, he was a consultant to Engelhard Corporation, an international specialty chemical and precious metals company. Between September 1991 and May 1995, Mr. Guyett served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Engelhard Corporation. From January 1987 to September 1991, he was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Fluor Corporation, an international engineering and construction firm. Mr. Guyett also currently serves as the Treasurer and a director of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

Oleg Khaykin was appointed to the Board in September 2010. Since March 2008, Mr. Khaykin has served as President and Chief Executive Officer, and as a director, of International Rectifier Corporation, a power management leader, engaged in design, manufacture, and marketing of power management semiconductors for industrial, computing, consumer, automotive, and high reliability applications. From January of 2006 until February 2008, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Amkor Technology, Inc., a leading provider of semiconductor assembly and test services, having joined Amkor in May 2003 as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. Prior to joining Amkor, Mr. Khaykin was employed by Conexant Systems Inc. and its spin-off, Mindspeed Technologies Inc., where he held positions of increasing responsibilities from 1999 to 2003, most recently as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development from June 1999 until May 2003. Prior to Conexant, he was with the Boston Consulting Group, a leading international strategy and general management consulting firm, where he worked with many European and U.S. firms on a broad range of business and management issues. 

Michael T. O'Neill was appointed to the Board in April 2003. From December 2010 to present, Mr. O'Neill has been an independent investor. From November 2000 to December 2010, Mr. O'Neill served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Miragene, Inc., a biotechnology company. From May 1995 to October 2000, Mr. O'Neill served as an independent consultant to several private companies in the biotechnology industry. From 1973 to 1995, Mr. O'Neill was employed by Beckman Instruments, Inc., a manufacturer of automated analytical systems for the life and health sciences market, in various management positions, most recently as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Operations from 1993 to 1995, and as Group Vice President, Life Sciences Operations from 1989 to 1993.

C. Kumar N. Patel was elected to the Board in 1986. Dr. Patel was Vice Chancellor-Research, University of California, Los Angeles from 1993 to 1999, and in January 2000 he was appointed to the position of Professor of Physics and Astronomy. Since February 2000, Dr. Patel has also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pranalytica, Inc., a company involved in midwave and longwave infrared quantum cascade lasers and ultra-low level trace gas detection technologies. Previously, he was employed by AT&T Bell Laboratories, a telecommunications research company, as Executive Director of the Research, Materials Science, Engineering and Academic Affairs Division from 1987 to 1993 and as Executive Director, Physics and Academic Affairs Division from 1981 to 1987. He joined Bell Laboratories in 1961.

Robert J. Phillippy joined Newport in April 1996 as Vice President and General Manager of our Science and Laboratory Products Division.In August 1999, he was appointed to the position of Vice President and General Manager of the U.S. operations of our Industrial and Scientific Technologies Division (now a part of our Photonics and Precision Technologies Division), and in July 2004, he was appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer.In September 2007, Mr. Phillippy was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board.Prior to joining us, Mr. Phillippy was Vice President of Channel Marketing at Square D Company, an electrical equipment manufacturer, from 1994 to 1996.He joined Square D Company in 1984 as a sales engineer and held various sales and marketing management positions with that company prior to his election as Vice President in 1994.

Peter J. Simone was appointed to the Board in March 2003. Mr. Simone currently serves as an independent consultant to several venture capital firms and venture-funded private companies. Mr. Simone was Executive Chairman of SpeedFam-IPEC, Inc., a semiconductor equipment company, from June 2001 to December 2002 when it was acquired by Novellus Systems, Inc. He served as a director of and a consultant to Active Controls eXperts, Inc. ("ACX"), a leading supplier of precision motion control and smart structures technology, from January 2000 to August 2000, and was President and a director of ACX from August 2000 to February 2001 when it was acquired by Cymer, Inc. He served as President, Chief Executive Officer and director of Xionics Document Technologies, Inc., a provider of embedded software solutions for printer and copier manufacturers, from April 1997 until Xionics' merger with Oak Technology, Inc. in January 2000. Mr. Simone's previous experience includes seventeen years with GCA Corporation, a manufacturer of semiconductor photolithography capital equipment, holding various management positions including President and director. Mr. Simone also serves on the boards of directors of several other private and public companies.

Committees of the Board