Russell C. Ellwanger has served as our Chief Executive Officer since May 2005.
Mr. Ellwanger has also served as a director since September 2016, and as Chairman
of the Board of Directors of our subsidiaries, Tower Semiconductor USA, Inc.,
Tower US Holdings, Inc., Jazz US Holdings, Inc., Jazz Semiconductor, Inc., TowerJazz
Panasonic Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and TowerJazz Texas, Inc. He also served as
a director of the Company between May 2005 and April 2013. From 1998 to 2005,
Mr. Ellwanger served in various executive positions for Applied Materials Corporation,
including Group Vice President, General Manager of the Applied Global Services
(AGS), from 2004 to 2005, Group Vice President, General Manager of the CMP and
Electroplating Business Group, from 2002 to 2004. Mr. Ellwanger also served as
Corporate Vice President, General Manager of the Metrology and Inspection Business
Group, from 2000 to 2002, during which he was based in Israel. From 1998 to 2000,
Mr. Ellwanger served as Vice President of Applied Materials’ 300-mm Program
Office, USA. Mr. Ellwanger served as General Manager of Applied Materials’
Metal CVD Division from 1997 to 1998 and from 1996 to 1997, Mr. Ellwanger served
as Managing Director of CVD Business Development, during which he was based in
Singapore. In addition, Mr. Ellwanger held various managerial positions in Novellus
System from 1992 to 1996 and in Philips Semiconductors from 1980 to 1992.
Oren Shirazi has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Senior VP Finance
since November 2004. Mr. Shirazi serves as a board member of Jazz Semiconductor,
Inc. Mr. Shirazi joined us in October 1998, serving initially as vice controller
and then as controller commencing in July 2000. Prior to joining us, Mr. Shirazi
was employed as an audit manager in the accounting firm of Ratzkovski-Fried
& Co., which merged into Ernst & Young (Israel). Mr. Shirazi is a Certified
Public Accountant in Israel (CPA). He has an MBA from the Graduate School of
Business of Haifa University with honors and a B.A. in economics and accounting
from the Haifa University.
Dr. Itzhak Edrei has served as our President since November 2011. Prior thereto,
Dr. Edrei served as Executive Vice President of Business Groups commencing in
September 2008 and as Senior Vice President of Product Lines and Sales commencing
in August 2005. Dr. Edrei serves as a board member of Jazz Semiconductor, Inc.
and TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Co., Ltd. From August 2001 to August 2005,
Dr. Edrei served as Vice President of Research and Development, having served
as Director of Research and Development since 1996. From 1994 to 1996, Dr. Edrei
served as our Device and Yield Department Manager. Prior to joining Tower, Dr.
Edrei was employed by National Semiconductor as Device Section Head. Dr. Edrei
earned his Ph.D. in physics from Bar Ilan University and his post-doctorate
from Rutgers University.
Rafi Mor was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of TowerJazz in August 2014.
Mr. Mor serves as a board member of Jazz Semiconductor, Inc., Jazz US Holdings,
TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and TowerJazz Texas, Ltd. Previously,
Mr. Mor served as Chief Executive Officer of TowerJazz Japan from October 2011,
after serving as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Jazz Semiconductor,
Inc. since September 2008. In October 2010, Rafi was nominated to be the manager
of our Newport Beach Fab, in addition to his GM role. Previously, Mr. Mor served
in Tower Semiconductor Ltd. as Vice President of Business Development since
April 2007, after serving as Vice President and Fab 2 Manager since August 2005,
and as Fab 1 Manager since March 2003. From November 2000 to March 2003, Mr.
Mor served as Senior Director of Process Device & Yield of Fab 1. From 1998
to 2000, Mr. Mor served as Director of Equipment Reliability & Support of
Fab 1. Previously, Mr. Mor was employed by National Semiconductor in various
engineering and management capacities. Mr. Mor holds an M.A. and B.A. in chemical
engineering from Ben Gurion University.
Dalit Dahan serves as Senior Vice President of Human Resources and IT after
being appointed IT Manager in January 2008. Prior thereto, Ms. Dahan served
as Vice President of Human Resources commencing in April 2004. Ms. Dahan joined
us in November 1993 and served as Personnel Manager commencing in April 2000,
after having served as Compensation & Benefits Manager and in various other
positions in the Human Resources Department. Prior to joining us, Ms. Dahan
served as Manager of the North Branch of O.R.S - Manpower Company for three
years. Ms. Dahan holds a B.A. in social science from Haifa University and an
MBA from the University of Derby.
Nati Somekh serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate
Secretary, after serving as Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate
Secretary since September 2008, after serving as Corporate Secretary and General
Counsel since March 2005, and as Associate General Counsel since May 2004. From
2001 to 2004, Ms. Somekh was employed by Goldsobel & Kirshen, Adv. Ms. Somekh
holds an LL.M. and J.D. from Boston University and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins
University. She is a member of the Israeli Bar Association and is admitted as
an attorney in the State of New York.
Yossi Netzer was appointed Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning in July
2012 after serving as VP of Corporate Planning since November 2008, as General
Manager of Mixed Signal, RF & Power Management Product Line since 2005 and
as Director, FAB 2 Yield & Device Engineering Manager since 2000. From 1995
to 2000, Mr. Netzer served in various engineering management positions within
the R&D division dealing with CMOS, Mixed Signal, RF, and NVM Technologies.
Prior to joining Tower, Mr. Netzer was employed at National Semiconductor and
the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Mr. Netzer holds a B.Sc.
degree in electrical engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute
of Technology.
Ilan Rabinovich was appointed Senior Vice President of Quality and Reliability
in January 2015. Previously, Mr. Rabinovich served as Vice President, Customer
Support and General Manager, CMOS Business Unit from December 2009. Prior to
joining TowerJazz, from 2005 to 2009, Mr. Rabinovich served as Vice President
of Operations, Opto Fab, Vishay Ltd. (formerly CyOptics Ltd.), a subsidiary
of Vishay Intertechnology. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Rabinovich served as President
and Vice President of Product Development at CyOptics Ltd. From 1995-2000, Mr.
Rabinovich worked as a Process Engineering Manager and Director of Engineering
for Tower Semiconductor Ltd. From 1983 to 1995, Mr. Rabinovich held various
engineering and management positions in National Semiconductor Company and in
Tower Semiconductor, Israel. Mr. Rabinovich holds an M.Sc. in Physics from Tel
Aviv University and a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from Hebrew University,
Jerusalem.
Dr. Marco Racanelli was appointed Newport Beach Site Manager in April 2014
and has also served as Senior Vice President since June 2012 and General Manager,
RF & High Performance Analog Business Group and Aerospace & Defense
Group since September 2008. Previously, he served as General Manager, Power
Business Group from June 2012 until March 2016 and Vice President of Technology
& Engineering, Aerospace & Defense General Manager for Jazz Semiconductor.
Prior to Jazz, Dr. Racanelli held several positions at Conexant Systems and
Rockwell Semiconductor since 1996 in the area of technology development where
he helped establish industry leadership in SiGe and BiCMOS and MEMS technology,
and built a strong design support organization. Prior to Rockwell, Dr. Racanelli
worked at Motorola, Inc., where he contributed to bipolar, SiGe and SOI development
for its Semiconductor Products Sector. Dr. Racanelli received a Ph.D. and a
M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University,
and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University. He holds over
35 U.S. patents.
Guy Eristoff was appointed Chief Executive Officer of TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor
Company Ltd. (TPSCo) at the time of its foundation in April 2014. Previously,
he served as Vice President, Global Operational Excellence at Tower Semiconductor
Ltd. Prior to this, he served in various positions in the semiconductor industry
such as Director of 200mm Fabs Core Engineering at Global-Foundries (Technology
Development, Marketing, Industrial Engineering & Central Engineering) for
the 200mm Business Unit, (5 fabs), General Manager, Singapore and Asia Region
at Intevac, Thin Films Section Manager, Thin Films Module Manager and Process
Integration Deputy Director at Chartered Semiconductor and Process/Hardware
Engineer and Field Service Manager at Applied Materials. Mr. Eristoff received
his B.S. degree in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (RPI) Troy
New York.
Gary Saunders has served as Senior Vice President Worldwide Sales and General
Manager of Tower Semiconductor USA (TSU) since 2015. Prior to TowerJazz, he
spent five years at Cypress Semiconductor, most recently as Senior Vice President
of Worldwide Sales. Previously, he served in executive positions at Spansion,
including Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Wireless Sales and Market Development.
Prior to Spansion, Mr. Saunders was employed by Fairchild Semiconductor International,
National Semiconductor Corporation, and Texas Instruments in various management
positions. Mr. Saunders received a B.S. in Computer Science, Magna Cum Laude
from Union College, NY and completed the American Electronics Association Program
for management of high technology companies at Stanford University Executive
Institute, Stanford, CA.
Dr. Avi Strum serves as our Senior Vice President and General Manager of the
CMOS Image Sensor Business Unit. Previously, Dr. Strum was Vice President and
General Manager of the Specialty Business Unit, Vice President of Europe Sales,
Head of the Design Center in Netanya and Device and Integration Department Manager.
Prior to joining Tower, Dr. Strum served as the President and COO of TransChip
Inc. and from 1996 to 2001, he served in various positions with Intel Corp.,
both in Israel and the US. From 1990 to 1996, he was the R&D Manager of
SCD and was in charge of all the Infrared Detectors development in SCD. Dr.
Strum received his Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Technion
- Israel Institute of Technology in 1990 and 1985 respectively.
Zmira Shternfeld-Lavie serves as our Senior Vice President and General Manager
of Transfer, Optimization and Development Process Services Business Unit (TOPS)
and Head of Process Engineering R&D. Ms. Lavie has over 25 years’
experience with silicon processing technologies, fabrication management and
research and development. She joined the R&D Group as Thin Film Section
Manager when it was established in 1996. In her current position, she is also
leading the R&D Process Group, MEMS and manages the process transfer activity.
Previously, Ms. Lavie served at National Semiconductor as Thin Film Process
Engineer. She has expertise in thin films metallization and process integration
and has several patents within this area. Ms. Lavie received a B.Sc. in Chemical
Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Amir Elstein was appointed as Chairman of the Board in January 2009. Mr. Elstein
serves as a Director of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. During 2010-2013,
Mr. Elstein served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Israel Corporation.
Mr. Elstein serves as Chairman of the Israel Democracy Institute, and as Chairman
of the Board of Governors of the Jerusalem College of Engineering. He also serves
as chairman/member of the board of several non-governmental organizations in
academic, scientific and educational, social and cultural institutions. Mr.
Elstein was a member of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries senior management team
from 2005 to 2008, where he ultimately held the position of the Executive Vice
President at the Office of the CEO, overseeing Global Pharmaceutical Resources.
Prior thereto, he was an executive at Intel Corporation, where he worked for
23 years, eventually serving as General Manager of Intel Electronics Ltd., an
Israeli subsidiary of Intel. Mr. Elstein received his B.Sc. in physics and mathematics
from the Hebrew University in 1980 and his M.Sc. in the Solid State Physics
Department of Applied Physics from the Hebrew University in 1982. In 1992, Mr.
Elstein received his diploma of Senior Business Management from the Hebrew University.
Kalman Kaufman has served as a director since 2005 and serves as chairman of
the Nomination Committee since January 2018. Mr. Kaufman has served as a member
of our Stock Option and Compensation Committee from May 2008 until February
2013 and as chairman thereof from February 2011 until February 2013. In addition,
he has served as a member of our Audit Committee from August 2005 until May
2017. Mr. Kaufman served as Corporate Vice President at Applied Materials from
1994 to 2005. Between 1985 and 1994, Mr. Kaufman served as President of KLA
Instruments Israel, a company he founded, and General Manager of Kulicke and
Soffa Israel. Mr. Kaufman is currently the Chairman of the board of directors
of Medasense and Invisia, serves as a director at ATP labs and is a member of
the management board of the Kinneret College. He holds engineering degrees from
the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Alex Kornhauser has served as an external director until November 2016, and
as a director thereafter. Mr. Kornhauser has served as a member of the Compensation
Committee since June 2009. In addition, Mr. Kornhauser has served as a member
of the Audit Committee from August 2008 until May 2017 and as chairman of the
Audit Committee from January 2011 until May 2017. Mr. Kornhauser served as Senior
VP, General Manager of Global Operations at Numonyx Corporation from March 2008
to August 2010. From January 1978 to March 2008, Mr. Kornhauser held many positions
at Intel Corporation from design engineer, project manager, department manager,
engineering manager and general manager of certain groups, segments and plants.
More specifically, from August 2000 to May 2007, he served as Intel Israel Site
GM, from January 2006 until March 2008, he served as VP of the Flash Memory
Group, from December 2004 to December 2005, Mr. Kornhauser served as VP of TMG
NVM Strategic Segment, from January 2001 to November 2004, he served as VP of
TMG F18 Plant Manager and from January 1996 to December 2000, he served as F18
General Manager. Mr. Kornhauser holds a B.S. in electronics from Bucharest Polytechnic
Institute in Romania.
Dana Gross has served as a director since November 2008, as a member of the
Nomination Committee since January 2018 and as a member of the Compensation
Committee since February 2013. In addition, Mrs, Gross has served as a director
on the board of Jazz Semiconductor, Inc., our wholly owned subsidiary, since
March 2009. Mrs. Gross is currently the COO of Prospera Technologies Ltd., an
AgTech Data Company. Mrs. Gross was the CFO of eToro, a FinTech company that
developed a Social Investment network from 2014 to 2016, and the CEO of Btendo,
a start-up company that developed MEMS based PICO projection solutions, until
it was acquired by ST Microelectronic in 2012. In 2008, Mrs. Gross joined Carmel
Ventures, a leading Israeli Venture Capital firm as a Venture Partner. From
2006 to 2008, Mrs. Gross was a Senior VP, Israel Country Manager at SanDisk
Corporation. From 1992 to 2006, Mrs. Gross held various senior positions at
M-Systems, including Chief Marketing Officer, VP World Wide Sales, President
of M-Systems Inc. (US Subsidiary) and CFO, VP Finance and Administration. In
addition, Mrs. Gross served as a director of M-Systems Ltd., Audiocodes Ltd.
and Power Dsine Ltd. Mrs. Gross holds a B.Sc. in industrial engineering from
Tel-Aviv University and an M.A. in business administration from San Jose State
University.
Ilan Flato has served as an external director until November 2016, and as a
director thereafter. Mr. Flato has served as chairman of the Compensation Committee
since February 2013 and as a member of the Audit Committee since April 2009.
Mr. Flato is classified by the Board of Directors as an audit committee financial
expert under applicable SEC rules. Mr. Flato has served as President of The
Association of Publicly Traded Companies on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange since
January 2012. Since 2011, Mr. Flato has been a member of the Israeli Bar Association.
From 2009 until February 2018, Mr. Flato has served as director in two Provident
Funds and since February 2018, he serves as director in one Provident Fund.
From 2009 until April 2018, Mr. Flato served as Chairman of the Business Executive
of Kibbutz Kfar Blum. From January 2018, he serves as Chairman of the Business
Executive Kibbutz “NAAN”. Since 2004, Mr. Flato has functioned as
an independent financial adviser. Until 2004, Mr. Flato served as the VP for
planning, economics and online banking in United Mizrahi Bank and as the Chief
Economist of the bank. From 1992 until 1996, Mr. Flato served as the Economic
Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel. Prior to that position, Mr. Flato has
served in the Treasury Office as the deputy director of the budget department.
In addition, Mr. Flato served as a member of the board of directors of many
government-owned companies. Mr. Flato holds a B.A. in economics from Tel-Aviv
University, an LL.B. from Netanya College, an M.A. in law from Bar-Ilan University
and an MSIT from Clark University.
Rami Guzman has served as a director since February 2009, as a member of the
Nomination Committee since January 2018, and as a member of our Audit Committee
since August 2011. Mr. Guzman is classified by the Board of Directors as an
audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules. Mr. Guzman held
various senior positions at Motorola Inc. and Motorola Israel Ltd. since 1985,
including VP of Motorola Inc. and Director of Motorola Israel Ltd. In addition,
until July 2004, Mr. Guzman was the CFO of Motorola Israel Ltd. Prior to joining
Motorola, Mr. Guzman worked for the Ministry of Finance first as senior assistant
and deputy to the Director of the Budget and then as Government-wide MIS and
IT Commissioner. Mr. Guzman is a member of professional committees in the Israel
Credit Insurance Company and the Israel Infrastructure Fund, and consultant
and advisor to technology based companies. Since 2017, he serves as the Chairman
of the board of directors of Tigbur. Mr. Guzman also serves since 2005 as a
director in various entities, including serving as a director in Bank Leumi
until October 2015. Mr. Guzman holds a B.A. in economics (1963) and an M.A.
in business and public administration (1969) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He was a Research Fellow at Stanford University and Stanford Research Institute,
California, USA, and completed Ph.D. studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Yoav Z. Chelouche has served as a director since April 2016, as a member of
the Nomination Committee since January 2018, and as a Chairman and member of
our Audit Committee since May 2017. Mr. Chelouche is classified by the Board
of Directors as an audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules.
Mr. Chelouche serves as Managing Partner of Aviv Ventures since Aviv’s
inception in 2001. Between 1995 and 2001, Mr. Chelouche served as President
& CEO of Scitex Corp. Until 2015, he was co-chairman of Israel Advanced
Technology Industries. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Checkpoint
Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) and the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).
He is currently a board member of Aviv’s portfolio companies: MGVS, Briefcam,
ScaleMP and Optimal Test. Mr. Chelouche also previously served as Chairman of
several public companies. He holds a B.A. in economics and statistics from Tel-Aviv
University and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
Rony Ross has served as a director since May 2016. Ms. Ross has served as chairperson
of Panorama Software since 2003, after having served as chief executive officer
of Panorama Software Systems from 1993 until 2003. From 1988 until 1993, Ms.
Ross served as VP of Development of Metalsoft, Inc. and later as chief executive
officer of Metalsoft Israel, Ltd. From 1983 to 1986, she served as business
development manager of Contahal Ltd. and from 1980 until 1983, she served as
computer systems and information technology manager in Kitan Ltd. Ms. Ross previously
served on several boards and board committees, including Israel Railways freight
subsidiary Isorad, Ltd., Radcom, Fundtech and Clal Electronics Industries. Ms.
Ross holds a B.S. in mathematics from Tel-Aviv University, an M.Sc. in computer
science from the Weitzman Institute, and an MBA from Tel-Aviv University.
Iris Avner has served as an external director until November 2016, and as a
director thereafter. Ms. Avner has served as a member of the Compensation Committee
and Audit Committee since June 2016. Ms. Avner is classified by the Board of
Directors as an audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules.
Ms. Avner serves as Chief Executive Officer of Nika Holdings, Ltd. From 2008
to 2015, Ms. Avner served as Managing Partner of Mustang Mezzanine Fund, L.P.
and served on Mustang’s board of directors from 2014 until 2015. From
1996 until 2008, she served as Chief Executive Officer of Mizrahi Tefahot Capital
Markets Ltd. and from 1996 until 2005, served as Senior Credit Officer &
Deputy CEO of Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. In addition, from 1997 until 2002, she served
as Assistant Professor and external lecturer in the Executive MBA Program in
Tel Aviv University. From 1988 until 1996, Ms. Avner held various positions
at Israeli Discount Bank including Senior Credit Officer and Senior Economist.
Since March 2018, Ms. Avner serves as a member of the board of directors of
Discount Bank. She previously served on several boards and board committees
in Israel and abroad, both as director and chairperson. Ms. Avner holds a B.A.
in accounting and economics from Hebrew University and an MBA from Tel-Aviv
University.
Tower Semiconductor Ltd currently has 3140 employees.
