Experience:
EVP Microsemi, CEO WiSpry, CEO uNav, TI, Silicon Systems, Hughes

BIO:
Russ has more than 30 years of experience in the electronic systems and semiconductor industries with a proven track record in executive leadership positions in both public and private companies.

As CEO of Menlo Micro, Russ oversees the corporate direction and strategy of the company, focusing on leadership, technology innovation and customers. Prior to Menlo Micro, Russ founded nGeniSys, an investment and consulting firm focused on the electronics, semiconductor and telecommunications industries.

He is also an Executive in Residence for GE Ventures and holds advisory and board of director positions at several venture-backed companies. Prior to Menlo and nGeniSys, he held the position of EVP of Marketing for Microsemi, where he led the integration of Actel, Zarlink and Symmetricom, representing over $700M USD of M&A over a 4-year period. His leadership of those acquisitions led to operating income improvements in each case from low single digits to all greater than 25% operating profit. One of those integrations resulted in greater 40% operating margin. Prior to Microsemi, he was the CEO of two start-ups, WiSpry, a RF MEMS company and uNav Microelectronics, a fabless semiconductor company, where under his leadership, u-Nav developed and introduced the first “single-chip” GPS semiconductor device. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Marketing for Silicon Systems and Texas Instruments Storage Product Division.

Experience:
Former Senior Research Scientist at GE Global Research Center

BIO:
Chris is a Co-Founder of Menlo Micro and has been at the heart of developing Menlo’s MEMS switch technology since its conception at GE Global Research.

He is responsible for Menlo’s technical strategy and leading its R&D activities. Prior to joining Menlo, Chris was a Senior Engineer at GE Global Research where he led its Metal MEMS Technology development for more than 12 years. ​He also has published more than 15 journal articles (Nature, APL, etc.), been granted more than 25 patents, organized symposiums on MEMS as part of the Materials Research Society conferences, given numerous invited talks on MEMS technologies and is a reviewer for technical journals. Chris holds a BS in Material Science from Cornell and a MSEE from Princeton.

Experience:
Former Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at United Silicon Carbide (UnitedSiC, now Qorvo), Vice President of Power Product Lines at Vishay, Inc

BIO: 
Yalcin has over twenty-five years of semiconductor experience, as the President and Chief Operating Officer, he manages sales, marketing, quality assurance and product areas at Menlo Microsystems.

Yalcin joins Menlo Micro after serving the role of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at United Silicon Carbide (UnitedSiC, now Qorvo). Prior to that his leadership experience included Vishay, Inc. where he was the Vice President of Power Product Lines, along with Alpha and Omega Semiconductor where he guided the company’s strategic direction as Vice President of Discrete Product Lines.

Yalcin holds a Bachelor of Material Science Engineering from Middle East Technical University, and subsequently earned his Master of Business at Iowa State University.

Experience:
Former CFO at Wispry Inc

BIO:
As Menlo Micro’s first CFO, Mark is responsible for building-out and managing Menlo Micro’s corporate infrastructure consisting of its finance, accounting, legal, and IT functions.

Mark has over 20 years of experience managing, advising and investing in public and venture-backed technology companies across the hardware and enterprise software segments including RF MEMS (WiSpry) and next-generation semiconductor packaging (INCEP). In addition to his operational experience, Mark has experience in the private equity and investment banking industries. Mark earned his MBA in finance from USC’s Marshall School of Business and holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Loyola University of Chicago.

Experience:
Former Vice President, Business Development for GE Ventures

BIO:
Chris has more than 20 years of experience in electronic systems and semiconductor industries.

As SVP of the RF Business Unit, Chris oversees all aspects of technology innovation and leads product development efforts. Prior to Menlo Micro, Chris was Vice President, Business Development for GE Ventures. At GE Ventures, Chris was responsible for developing new programs and monetization strategies for key technologies developed at General Electric’s R&D center in Schenectady, NY. He employed strategies such as licensing, joint ventures, acquisitions and spinouts for programs covering wireless, semiconductor, MEMS, and thermal management technology segments.

Prior to GE, Chris served in a variety of management and leadership positions over an 18-year career at Teradyne, world leader in semiconductor test equipment. In his most recent role at Teradyne, he was responsible for building a new Services Solutions Business for Teradyne’s Global Service Organization, a full-vertical supply-chain offering targeting emerging fabless semiconductor companies. Prior to that, Chris alternated between multiple assignments in Europe, where he managed large teams of field application engineers, and management positions within Teradyne’s product development organizations, defining and developing new product roadmaps. Chris holds a BSEE from Tufts University and an Executive MBA Certificate through Teradyne's Executive Leadership Program.

Experience:
Former Global Quality for Zebra Technologies, Division Quality Manager at Samtec

BIO:
Ajit joined Menlo Micro team in May 2020. He brings over 30 years of hi-tech manufacturing industry experience and has held senior positions in quality, engineering and technology development.

Prior to Menlo Micro, Ajit led global quality for Zebra Technologies. Prior to that, his roles included Division Quality Manager at Samtec and Director of Engineering at Anaren. He has spoken at leading conferences on Quality and Customer Experience. He has published papers in technical journals and was awarded a patent relating to Flip Chip design. He is the author of a book titled “Customer Facing Processes and Customer Experience”. Ajit earned his Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in semiconductor processing from the University of Kansas.

Experience: 
Head of People Development (Americas) for Infineon Technologies, Director of Human Resources for International Rectifier

BIO:
Rose has more than 25 years of experience in the technology field.  As the Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources, Rose oversees the strategy and implementation of programs and operations for Menlo Micro’s human resources department. While at Menlo Micro, Rose has led strategic and recruiting initiatives resulting in the company’s overall growth.

Prior to joining Menlo Micro, Rose was the Head of People Development (Americas) for Infineon Technologies, Director of Human Resources for International Rectifier, and held various Sr. Management and Sr. Business Partner roles at companies such as Trend Micro and Pioneer Electronics. Rose also consulted for companies in the technology field.

Rose holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Human Resources from the California State University, Fullerton and a Master’s degree from Claremont Graduate University in Human Resources Development, and has a Master’s degree from Fielding Graduate University in Organizational Development and Leadership. She also holds several certifications in her field including: GPHR, SPHR, CCP, and an Employment Law Certification. Rose believes in helping the community and has served as a Board Member for two non-profit organizations.

Experience:
Former Commercial Technology Manager at Corning Incorporated and VP Business Development at Mosaic Microsystems

BIO:
Aric has driven innovation in the areas of materials processing, characterization, program management and business development in the microelectronics, precision optics and telecommunications industries for over 20 years.  Since 2011, he has focused on establishing glass as a microelectronics substrate working collaboratively with both research, development, engineering and commercial teams within, and across, company lines to drive innovative industry solutions. 

He has unique experience driving technical solutions and working with the supply chain and business development. He has a successful track record of leading government-funded initiatives from concept through product commercialization. 

Aric has written numerous publications and industry conference presentations and holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Rochester. 

Experience:
Former Senior Director of Power Path Products at Linear Technology and Analog Devices

BIO:
Chris has over 20 years of experience creating integrated circuit products for power electronics. As VP of the Power Products Business Unit, he oversees the development and support for power products using Menlo Micro’s Ideal Switch® technology.

Before joining Menlo Micro, Chris led the product definition and integrated circuit development for Power Path products at Linear Technology and later at Analog Devices. These products controlled, managed, and protected power in a variety of industrial, automotive and consumer applications. Prior to his management position, he designed integrated circuit controllers for switching regulators.

He holds a PhD and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science degree from the California Institute of Technology.

Mark drives the worldwide aerospace and defense business unit for Menlo Micro. In previous roles, Mark led government contracting projects, due diligence activities, and has managed strategic accounts for previous employers. He brings decades of experience in creating and building trusted relationships at key DOD prime contractors, subcontractors, and productizing advanced technology into application environments for critical mission functions.

He has unique experience in the radar, EW, ISR and space market and has worked in various roles ranging from vice president, chief systems engineer, senior engineering manager of MMIC development, business development director of defense systems, systems and applications engineering management, R&D and modeling engineer and program management for advanced products and technology. 

Experience:
Former VP of Operations at Kionix 

BIO:
As VP of Fab Operations, Mike is responsible for oversight of Menlo Micro’s wafer foundry partners and for the successful start-up of Menlo Micro’s Ideal Fab^TM in Ithaca, NY. 

Mike has over 23 years of experience in the semiconductor/MEMS industry.  He joined Menlo Micro as part of the 2023 fab purchase from Kionix, Inc and its parent company Rohm Semiconductor.  Most of his 15 years at Kionix were spent in Operations, where he oversaw rapid growth & capacity expansions in both Ithaca and Rohm’s Kyoto Fab. 

Prior to joining Kionix, Mike was a Process Engineer and Group Leader at Intel Corporation near Portland, Oregon, working in Etch and Lithography.  His Intel career exposed him to process development, early-stage production, & high volume manufacturing, across 8” and 12” wafer processes. 

Mike earned a bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University and his PhD from Cornell University, both in Chemical Engineering.  He lives in Ithaca with his wife and three children, where he enjoys coaching and playing baseball and ice hockey. 

Experience: 
Former VP of Sensor Design, Process and Advanced Product Development at Kionix 

BIO:
As VP of New Product Introduction (NPI), Nicole is responsible for launching new products from initiation into production with high quality, yield, and in a timely manner.

Nicole has over 26 years of experience in MEMS academia and industry. Previously she was at Kionix, as VP of Sensor Design, Process and Advanced Product Development where she managed teams working on sensor development and prototyping through production launch in accelerometers and gyroscopes. Prior to that she was an Executive Director at Maxim Integrated in Advanced Research and Development.

At Maxim Integrated she focused on Optical Sensor Integration and wafer level packaging of those sensors. These have been used in applications such as ambient light sensing, RGB, proximity, gesture, UV and heart rate sensors in cell phones and other consumer applications. Additionally, she researched bio and environmental sensors.

She led sensor strategy, authored, and co-authored over 20 patents and brought multiple new technologies to high volume production. Before that at SMI she was Vice President of Product Engineering where she managed engineers to develop, improve, and sustain the product portfolio primarily pressure sensors (die and packaged parts) for automotive, medical, and industrial applications. She was responsible for sensor design, simulation, characterization, packaging, test, and development.

She completed her Post Doctoral studies at Stanford University, PhD at ETH Zurich, MS from Cornell University and BS from RPI in Engineering Physics. At ETH Prof. Oliver Brand was her direct advisor in the Physical Electronics Laboratory (PEL) of Prof. Baltes. Currently she serves as the treasurer for the Transducers Research Foundation. She lives in Ithaca where she shares four children with her husband, and enjoys skiing, tennis, and boating.

BIO:
Russ has more than 30 years of experience in the electronic systems and semiconductor industries with a proven track record in executive leadership positions in both public and private companies. As CEO of Menlo Micro, Russ oversees the corporate direction and strategy of the company, focusing on leadership, technology innovation and customers.

Prior to Menlo Micro, Russ founded nGeniSys, an investment and consulting firm focused on the electronics, semiconductor and telecommunications industries. He is also an Executive in Residence for GE Ventures and holds advisory and board of director positions at several venture backed companies. Prior to Menlo and nGeniSys, he held the position of EVP of Marketing for Microsemi, where he led the integration Actel, Zarlink and Symmetricom, representing over $700M USD of M&A over a 4-year period. His leadership of those acquisitions led to operating income improvements in each case from low single digits to all greater than 25% operating profit. One of those integrations resulted in greater 40% operating margin.

Prior to Microsemi, he was the CEO of two start-ups, WiSpry, a RF MEMS company and uNav Microelectronics, a fabless semiconductor company, where under his leadership, u-Nav developed and introduced the first “single-chip” GPS semiconductor device. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Marketing for Silicon Systems and Texas Instruments Storage Product Division.

BIO:
Marianne is a Venture Partner at Standard Investments. She believes firmly in the ability and opportunity for digital + deep customer insight + new business models to drive fundamental change across industries and throughout the economy.

Prior to joining Standard Investments, Marianne was President, GE Ventures where she led the investing team and before that was a Partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures. She has also been a start-up executive, management consultant, and development engineer. Her career has focused at the intersection of technology, market and impact from both a start-up and large company perspective. She enjoys helping start-ups attack markets, partnering with, or navigating around large companies for success.

Marianne holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia, where she is also on the Advisory Board. She enjoys exploring the outdoors with her husband and two daughters.

BIO:
Dr. Paul Conley is a leading investor and serves as an active Managing Director on Vertical Venture Partners portfolio company boards including semiconductor chip company Menlo Micro.

Prior to Vertical Venture Partners, Paul joined the Paladin team after more than 15 years of previous R&D and entrepreneurial experience. As founding CEO of BrightScale, he led the commercialization of a patented multi-core microprocessor technology in the HDTV market. As founding CEO of Appfluent Technology, he led the commercialization of patented in-memory distributed database technologies in the enterprise IT market. Prior to taking the entrepreneurial route, he spent nearly a decade in multidisciplinary R&D roles in the areas of high-performance computing, applied physics, and biomedical engineering, including postdoctoral positions at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Paul earned a PhD in Computational Physics and an MS in Bioengineering from UCSD, as well as an MS and BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia.

BIO:
John E. Major is a veteran of the technology industry, with more than 40 years’ experience at leading communications companies including Motorola and Qualcomm, and as CEO of several companies including Novatel Wireless. He has significant board experience at both public and private technology companies, including his Chairmanship of Broadcom until its acquisition by Avago.

From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Major served as chief executive officer of Apacheta Corporation, a mobile wireless software company. From 2000 to 2003, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Novatel Wireless Inc., a wireless data access solutions company. Previously, Mr. Major was chairman and chief executive officer of Wireless Knowledge. Prior to that, Mr. Major served in executive level positions at Qualcomm Incorporated, including president of its wireless infrastructure division, and prior to that he held various leadership positions at Motorola, Inc., including senior vice president and chief technology officer. 

Mr. Major has served on the boards of directors of Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:LSCC) since March 2018, Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) since 1993, ORBCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:ORBC) since 2007 and of Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ: LFUS) since 1991. He previously served as a director of Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) from 2003 until its acquisition by Avago Technologies in February 2016, and as a director of Pulse Electronics Corporation from 2013 until its acquisition by Yageo Corporation in May 2018, and as a director of Resonant, Inc. (NASDAQ:RESN) from 2013 until April 2019. 

Mr. Major holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Rochester, an MS in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois, an MBA from Northwestern University and a JD from Loyola University.

BIO:

Mr. Litchfield most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Microsemi Corporation, a provider of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions that was acquired by Microchip Technology, Inc. in May 2018. Mr. Litchfield served in that position from 2009 until the closing of the acquisition by Microchip. Previously, he served as Microsemi’s Vice President, Analog and Mixed Signal Group from 2006 to 2009, as its Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Business Development from 2003 to 2006, and as its Director, Business Development from 2001 to 2003. Prior to joining Microsemi, Mr. Litchfield was an equity research analyst at Banc of America Securities and a production engineer at Toyota Motor Corporation. Mr. Litchfield also serves on the board of directors of several early stage technology companies that are not publicly traded.

Mr. Litchfield holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and a MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

Vertical Venture Partners – Partner
IXYS – Former Board of Directors

RA Capital Management – Venture Partner
RS Bioventures, LLC – Director
GE Ventures – Former Managing Director

BIO:
David Velasquez was appointed General Manager of Advanced Optics in August 2019. In this role, he is responsible for leading the division, which includes the Optical Materials and Technologies, Precision Glass Solutions (PGS), Corning Laser Technologies, Specialty Glass, and Iris® Glass business units.

Prior to this role, Velasquez had served as Division Vice President and General Manager of PGS since May 2017. As the leader of this newly formed business unit, he was responsible for consolidating a handful of separate Corning businesses and innovation programs targeting the semiconductor and consumer electronics markets, and for growing Corning’s glass wafer and panel sales in emerging applications including sensors, augmented reality, and advanced packaging. Velasquez joined Corning in 2001 as a Strategic Planning Manager in Corning Optical Fiber. He later moved into product line management and assumed responsibility of the product line portfolio in 2007. ​From 2010 to 2015, Velasquez led marketing and commercial operations for the Corning® Gorilla® Glass division. He built the analysis, forecasting, customer service, product line management, marketing communications, and branding functions as the business ramped to $1B in sales in two years. During his tenure, Velasquez helped oversee the transition of five generations of Gorilla Glass and the commercialization of multiple Glass+ offerings. In 2015, Velasquez was appointed Commercial Director of the Advanced Optics division. There, he drove initiatives such as the Keene, N.H. facility turnaround, targeted sales growth in China, next-generation semiconductor equipment capabilities and product profit and loss management. Velasquez earned a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and his Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

BIO:

Fanie Duvenhage serves as Corporate Vice President at Microchip Technology, where he oversees the Analog and Discrete Business Units. This portfolio encompasses a diverse range of products, including Analog Power, Interface, Mixed Signal, Linear, Silicon Carbide, Power over Ethernet, and an extensive array of Specialty Discrete products.

Mr. Duvenhage's started with Microchip Technology 1996 following the acquisition of the Keeloq technology, where he began as a silicon design engineer. Over the years, he has progressed through various roles in applications engineering, architecture, marketing, and general management within the company's Microcontroller, Human Interface, and USB and Networking Business Units. His extensive tenure and varied experience afford him a comprehensive understanding of Microchip's operations across multiple levels and a wide spectrum of functional areas, including product development, operations, and support services.

He holds an Electronic Engineering Degree from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, a Masters in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Design from Arizona State University.

BIO:
Jim Cable has more than 25 years of experience in semiconductor research, development and production, including pSemi Corporation (formerly Peregrine Semiconductor), Hughes Microelectronics Center, Hughes Technology Center and TRW.

Cable most recently served as the chairman and CTO of pSemi and as the global semiconductor R&D director for parent company, Murata Manufacturing, until his retirement in Dec. 2019. Cable joined pSemi in 1996 and held positions as COO and vice president of technology and engineering, before becoming CEO in 2002. From 2002 to 2017, Cable served as the company's CEO where he led the team through an IPO and championed the 2014 acquisition to Murata Manufacturing. Under his engineering leadership, pSemi pioneered stacked CMOS RF switch integration, solved insurmountable circuit linearity problems and ultimately manufactured high-performance, multi-throw-count CMOS RF switches that support more than 40 different communications bands and will become even more mission critical in 5G. Cable is a co-inventor on over 70 semiconductor and technology patents, including breakthroughs in CMOS RF switch linearity and integration that are used by most modern cellphones today. Mr. Cable received his B.S. in physics from UC Riverside and his master's degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from UCLA.

BIO:
Daniel Marrujo is currently the President and Managing Director of Trusted Strategic Solutions, a leading Silicon Valley based consulting and government relations firm.  He is on the Board of Advisors for Akhan Semiconductor, BMNT, Integra Technologies, Silicon Catalyst and Tignis.  He is on the Board of Directors for the Silicon Heartland Project, a member of the President’s Council of Advisors for California Polytechnic State University and Wichita State University. 

He is a Senior Fellow for the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Prior to this Mr. Marrujo served over 10 years as a senior civilian in the US Government.  His final assignment was the Chief Strategy Officer and Director of the Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) at the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA). The Defense Microelectronics Activity serves as a joint resource for the Department of Defense, US Government Agencies, Industry and Foreign Allies on all microelectronic efforts.

Outside of microelectronics, Mr. Marrujo co-founded Trusted American Insurance Agency.  This insurance company has grown into all 50 states with over 8,000 insurance agents nationwide.  Mr. Marrujo currently sits on the Board of Directors for Trusted American Insurance Agency.

He is also the Co-Founder of The Marrujo Foundation, which was created to support, and work with educational institutions to further research in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology to establish a world-leading fellowship ecosystem. The foundations efforts are to ensure that institutional work challenges current understanding of space, create new opportunities and make a difference in people’s lives across the United States and around the world.

He holds a master’s degree in Materials Engineering and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. 

BIO:
Arnold Punaro is chief executive officer of The Punaro Group, LLC, a Washington-based firm he founded in 2010 specializing in federal budget and market analysis, business strategy and capture, acquisition due diligence, government relations, communications, sensitive operations, business risk analysis and compliance, and crisis management.

He consults for a broad array of Fortune 100 companies and has been recognized by Defense News as one of the 100 most influential individuals in U.S. Defense. He also leads Punaro Capital, LLC, a firm specializing in national security investments, and Punaro Press, LLC, a company that specializes in national security publications.

Arnold served on Capitol Hill for 24 years where he advised Sen. Sam Nunn, first as his Director of National Security Affairs and then as Staff Director of the Senate Armed Services Committee (for 14 years). In his work with Senator Nunn and the Senate Armed Services Committee, he was involved in the formulation of all major defense and intelligence legislation, the oversight and review of all policy and programs, and civilian and military nominations.

As an executive vice president at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) from 1997 to 2010, at the time a $10 billion company, Mr. Punaro served as a sector manager, deputy president of the Federal Business Segment, and led SAIC's Corporate Business Development organization. He was the senior corporate official responsible for SAIC's government affairs, worldwide communications and support operations, to include crisis and risk management, as well as general manager of their Washington operations and supervisor of SAIC's corporate Small and Disadvantaged Business office. In November 2015, Mr. Punaro completed a four-year term, first as Vice-Chairman, then as Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association, the country’s largest defense industry association with over 1,800 corporate and nearly 70,000 individual members.

As NDIA Chairman Emeritus, he served as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee from 2015 to 2018. He served another two-year term as Vice-Chairman beginning in October 2018, completed another two-year term as Chairman in October 2022, and now serves as Chairman Emeritus and Chair of the Emerging Technologies Institute Board. From September 2011 to December 2024, he was Chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board which serves as an independent advisor to the Secretary of Defense on Reserve and National Guard matters. He served on the Defense Business Board (DBB) as a founding member at its inception in 2002 until 2013. He resumed serving on the DBB from 2015 until January 2021.

In 2020, he co-chaired a congressionally-mandated independent study for the Secretary of Defense titled the “Assessment of Responsibilities and Authorities of the Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense.” From 2005 to 2008, he was the Chairman of the Independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. He also served as a task force member for the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Regional Security in 2008, a Commissioner on the Independent Commission on the Iraqi Security Force in 2007, Deputy Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century from 1998 to 2001, and chaired the Defense Reform Task Force for Secretary of Defense William Cohen in 1997.

A retired U.S. Marine Corps Major General, he served as the Director of the Marine Corps Reserve, Deputy Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command (Mobilization), and for three years as the Commanding General of the 4th Marine Division. Other assignments were Commanding General, Marine Corps Mobilization Command, and Deputy Commander, Marine Forces Reserve.

In December 1990, he was mobilized for Operation Desert Shield. In December 1993, he completed a tour of active duty as Commander of Joint Task Force Provide Promise (Forward) in the former Yugoslavia. He was mobilized for a third time in May 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served on active duty as an Infantry Platoon Commander in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart.

He serves on a number of for-profit boards and non-profit boards. He is on the Board of Advisors for the Center for a New American Security, and on the Advisory Council of the Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He chairs the board at the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs and serves on the board of the Georgia Institute of Technology Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. He has served on other non-profit boards, including the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, Chairman of the Board of the Tragedy Assistant Programs for Survivors, the Wolf Trap Foundation Board, and as a visiting scholar for the Bipartisan Policy Center. Mr. Punaro is the recipient of numerous recognitions including the Secretary of Defense “Medal for Distinguished Public Service” and three awards of the Secretary of Defense “Medal for Exceptional Public Service.”

He received the Marine Corps League's "Iron Mike Award” in 1993 for "exceptionally outstanding service" and "unwavering commitment" for over 20 years to "ensuring a strong national defense." He has received the Air Force Association's "Exceptional Service Award," the National Guard "Minuteman Award,” the Army’s “Meritorious Public Service Medal,” and the Secretary of the Army “Public Service Award”, the Reserve Officers Association’s “Minuteman of the Year Award”, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation “Commandants’ Award,” CAUSE’s Jack London Award, the NDIA Forrestal Award for industry leadership, and was the recipient of the SAIC's "Founders Award" and two special CEO awards.

He has over 20 military awards and decorations to include the Distinguished Service Medal as well as numerous civic awards. He has a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Georgia and a Masters of Arts degree from Georgetown University, the latter in national security studies. He was on the Adjunct Faculty of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University for ten years where he taught an annual graduate level course entitled "National Security Decision Making."

He is the author of On War and Politics: The Battlefield Inside Washington’s Beltway, published by the Naval Institute Press in October 2016, and The Ever-Shrinking Fighting Force, published in July 2021 by Punaro Press. His third book, If Confirmed: An Insider’s View of the National Security Confirmation Process, will be published in May 2024.