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Our executive management team leads the way in our vision of improving the quality of life through technology. To download a publication-ready photo, visit the Photo Library. Meet Team Gateway.
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Theodore Waitt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Nemo Azamian, SVP Customer Service and Support
Joseph Burke, SVP Business Development
Bob Burnett, SVP and Chief Technical Officer
Javade Chaudhri, SVP and General Counsel
Michael Hammond, SVP Operations
John Heubusch, SVP Strategy and Planning
Will Headapohl, SVP and Chief Information Officer
Dave Russell, SVP Partner Management
Brad Shaw, SVP Marketing and Corporate Communications
Roderick Sherwood, SVP and Chief Financial Officer
David G. Turner, SVP Sales and Marketing
Jack Van Berkel, SVP Human Resources
Greg van den Dries, SVP Digital Solutions
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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
At the age of 39, Ted Waitt is a true pioneer of the information age, and is responsible for a string of innovations that have transformed not just Gateway, but the technology industry as well.
The son of a fourth-generation Iowa cattleman, Waitt parlayed a genetic predisposition for plain talk and fair dealing into a business model that is as true today as it was when he founded the company. In 1985, he and friend Mike Hammond co-founded Gateway with a $10,000 loan guaranteed by his grandmother. The company's early value proposition was simple, and is similar to today's: offer products directly to customers by telephone and build them to their specifications -- and always provide the best value for the money. With a sharp focus on customer satisfaction, the fledgling start-up grossed $100,000 the first year.
Under Waitt's stewardship, Gateway has grown from a start-up to a multibillion-dollar company in 15 years. That growth is founded on two simple observations: Technology should be simple to use and should improve the user's life; and a company that provides technology should strive for lifelong relationships with its customers. Gateway, Waitt likes to say, is the customer's trusted guide -- or an IT department for the masses.
In the mid-1990s, Waitt saw that the traditional PC business was commoditizing at a rapid rate. He was determined to prevent Gateway from following that path. Waitt, the first in the PC business to see the PC as a platform for additional related revenue sources, implemented a series of innovative initiatives designed to provide Gateway with a richer and more diverse profit stream, as well as fresh, new ways to strengthen Gateway's customer relationships.
Under Waitt, Gateway became the first PC maker to:
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Offer PC upgrades such as Microsoft® Windows, choices of software and CD-ROMs as standard at no extra charge |
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Explore convergence of the PC and television with the visionary Destination® system |
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Sell directly on the Internet |
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Offer financing through the Your:)Ware® program, a revolutionary way to buy and own a PC that protects customers against technology obsolescence |
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Open and scale a non-inventory retail channel, Gateway® stores, becoming one of the nation's first "bricks and clicks" retailers |
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Sell peripherals online |
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Bundle its own branded Internet service with the PC |
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Offer its own training directly to customers |
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Likening the worldwide digital divide between computer haves and have nots to a "chasm" of Grand Canyon proportions, Waitt has worked tirelessly since 2000 to ramp up a family foundation designed to ensure that children have equal access to technology. The Waitt Family Foundation is a private family fund focused on serving the needs of families and children in crisis, with a special interest in bridging the digital divide.
Born Jan. 18, 1963, in Sioux City, Iowa, Waitt attended the University of Iowa before founding the company. Waitt, his wife and four children reside in San Diego.
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Senior Vice President, Customer Service and Support
Nemo Azamian leads the company's efforts to deliver extraordinary customer satisfaction.
Azamian joined Gateway in 1999 as the vice president of Client Care for the company's business unit. Prior to joining Gateway, Azamian served in customer service leadership roles for companies such as Compaq, Micron, Emerson Electric and Harris Corp.
Born in 1949, Azamian earned his bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Tehran in Tehran, Iran, and his master's of science in industrial management from the University of Dallas.
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Senior Vice President, Business Development
Joseph Burke is senior vice president of business development, helping to identify, execute and maximize business opportunities and relationships that support the company's growth initiatives.
Prior to assuming his current business development responsibilities, Burke served as chief financial officer for Gateway overseeing all aspects of financial management for the company. During his tenure, Burke helped position Gateway for future growth by providing leadership while restoring health to the balance sheet and improving the company's cost structure.
Burke also led the company's retail strategy from just an idea to more than 170 Gateway stores in less than three years. Drawing on his background and following Chairman Ted Waitt's vision, Burke's team grew Gateway into a power that redefined both retail sales and the direct channel. Today, Gateway stores are at the center of the company's local markets strategy and remain a key differentiator for building local and long-lasting relationships with customers.
Burke, who joined Gateway in October 1995 as a vice president for Market Development, started his career at the predecessor of Price Waterhouse Coopers, specializing in audit. He later moved to corporate controller and then treasurer of Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. and subsequently served as chief financial officer of Blockbuster's International division.
Born September 17, 1957, in Scranton, PA, Burke earned a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Florida in 1978.
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Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer
Bob Burnett is responsible for shaping the company's technology strategy and products. He identifies and commercializes new technologies and leads the development of all Gateway-branded hardware product families -- including desktops, notebooks and servers.
Burnett, who joined Gateway in June 1993, has led as vice president of product planning and development in the consumer business unit. In that position, Burnett brought to market a wide range of PC systems including the Profile, Select, Performance, Essential and Astro Desktop product families, as well as the Solo Notebook product line.
Burnett also served as Gateway's vice president of mobile systems, responsible for Gateway's expansion into the mobile marketplace. Prior to that Burnett was director of product marketing for Gateway.
Burnett's experience outside of Gateway includes serving as director of marketing and systems engineering for IQV Corporation -- a notebook design firm and the pioneer in the sub-notebook product category. Additionally, Burnett spent a number of years at Zenith Data Systems in roles including desktop product line manager, product development manager and systems engineer.
Born June 16, 1964, Burnett earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
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Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Javade Chaudhri is senior vice president and general counsel of Gateway, responsible for managing all the legal affairs of the company, as well as matters relating to contract administration, ethics and government relations.
Chaudhri joined Gateway as vice president, law, and deputy general counsel in 1999 and was responsible for managing the legal affairs of the business units of the company.
Prior to joining Gateway, Chaudhri was a senior partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Winston & Strawn, where he co-managed the international and technology practice groups. He was one of Gateway's principal outside lawyers since 1994.
Chaudhri has practiced law since 1980 when he joined the international law firm of Surrey & Morse in Washington, D.C., which merged with Jones Day Reavis & Pogue in 1986. In 1993, he joined Winston & Strawn, where he represented a broad range of multinational companies and state-owned in all aspects of their business cycle, including corporate, regulatory, financial and contractual relationships. He has focused in particular on assisting clients to develop new business activities and ventures and to expand into new geographic markets.
Chaudhri has advised multinational companies on licensing, distributorships, joint ventures, acquisitions and strategic alliances, as well as on claims and litigation. He has advised multilateral and bilateral development agencies as well as governments in developing countries and emerging democracies on joint ventures, development projects, foreign investment, technology transfer, privatization, financing and dispute resolution.
Chaudhri is a visiting faculty member for the International Development Law Institute in Rome and the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C. In addition, he has written and lectured widely on technology and international legal matters.
Born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1952, Chaudhri attended Strathmore School and College (Nairobi) and received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Yale University and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law School. Chaudhri is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and in California.
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Senior Vice President, Operations
Mike Hammond is senior vice president, Operations, with responsibility for Gateway's global manufacturing operations.
Hammond returns to leading the Operations effort after a stint as head of the company's Business Process Simplification team. Hammond also has served as senior vice president of Global Manufacturing and vice president of Gateway's Asia-Pacific organization.
In September 1985, Hammond and Chairman Ted Waitt co-founded Gateway in Sioux City, Iowa. Since then, he has worked in every part of the business.
Hammond was the architect and engineer of the company's highly efficient manufacturing facilities and built-to-order systems, which are the backbone of Gateway's global manufacturing operations. Under Hammond's guidance, Operations has been a model of continuous cost-efficiency improvement and customer satisfaction.
Hammond was born Nov. 28, 1961, in Des Moines, IA.
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Senior Vice President, Strategy and Planning
John Heubusch oversees the company's strategic direction by leading the team that drives the development and program management of the company's corporate strategy. Previously, John was vice president of government relations and acting vice president for corporate communications for Gateway. He also serves as chief of staff to Ted Waitt, and president of the Waitt Family Foundation.
Prior to joining Gateway, Heubusch served in a number of senior level positions on Capitol Hill. He was executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) during the 1995-1996 election period. Under John's leadership, two seats were added to the Republican column in the Senate, bringing the number to 55, a majority margin not seen since 1929.
Heubusch has also served as vice president of communications for the American Red Cross, where he was accountable for all internal and external communications, including advertising, media relations and public affairs. He also acted as chief spokesperson and coordinated press relations for the organization's president, Elizabeth Dole.
In addition, Heubusch currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation, the Waitt Family Foundation and the Elizabeth Dole Foundation.
Heubusch earned a master's degree in national security studies from Georgetown University in 1988 and bachelor's degrees in political science and English from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1980.
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Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Will Headapohl is senior vice president and chief information officer. Headapohl has global responsibility for directing the company's information technology strategy and architecture, daily IT and eCommerce operations as well as industry-leading technology initiatives. Since joining Gateway in March 2001, Headapohl has led the eCommerce team, streamlining the look and feel of Gateway.com to provide a consistent customer experience.
Previously Gateway's vice president of eCommerce, Headapohl was one of the original Silicon Valley pioneers of electronic commerce. He served as chief operating officer of Beyond.com and as executive vice president of CNET, when he also founded CNET Direct, the company's eCommerce arm. In addition, he was one of the founders of Buydirect, Inc., which sold and electronically delivered software and was later purchased by Beyond.com. A 20-year technology veteran, Headapohl worked with Apple Computer, where he co-founded a software commerce business in the AppleSoft division. Even before the Internet, Headapohl led the development of a CD-ROM solution at Apple that was later used as a prototype for the Internet eCommerce model.
Born March 1, 1955, in Great Falls, MT, Headapohl earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. He has been a keynote speaker at various Internet-related conferences and enjoys participating on panels at technology conferences.
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Senior Vice President, Partner Management
Dave Russell is senior vice president, partner management, and is responsible for worldwide procurement, materials and logistics. Russell started at Gateway in August 1988 in inventory management.
Russell served in a number of roles within Gateway in the procurement and materials area. Most recently, he was vice president, Supplier Management.
Russell was born Nov. 5, 1963, in Sioux City, IA.
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Senior Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications
Brad Shaw, senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, is responsible for Gateway's marketing, public relations and crisis communications strategies. Additionally, Shaw leads Gateway's special event activities, including the company's sponsorship of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Shaw joined the company in March 1999 as vice president of corporate communications.
Prior to joining Gateway, Shaw served for six years at PepsiCo, in a number of public relations roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, he was director of worldwide public relations for Pepsi-Cola Company, based in Purchase, N.Y. In that role, Shaw led all brand publicity activity behind Pepsi's full range of domestic and international beverage products and led the division's crisis communications team.
Prior to joining Pepsi, Shaw held senior account management positions at Ketchum Public Relations in New York. He started his career at Doremus Public Relations, an investor relations and public relations firm.
Born April 10, 1966, Shaw earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. He also serves as member of the Board of Directors for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
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Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Rod Sherwood, senior vice president and chief financial officer, oversees all financial management, control, reporting planning and communications for Gateway. Sherwood joined Gateway in October 2002.
A 20-year corporate operations and finance veteran, Sherwood most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Loudcloud Inc. (now Opsware Inc.), an IT automation software and company, where he led all financial and infrastructure operations for the company. Prior to that, Sherwood's career includes a number of executive and senior financial positions at Chrysler Corp., Hughes Electronic Corp. and BroadStream Corp.
During his time at Chrysler, Sherwood held a number of positions with increasing responsibility. He was a key contributor in redesigning the vehicle development process and architected a $3 billion cost reduction program. Sherwood also led a $2 billion public offering of Chrysler stock and a Chrysler Financial revolving credit agreement with 152 banks worth $6.5 billion.
At Hughes, Sherwood was responsible for growing the company's DIRECTV International and Spaceway broadband services business. In addition, he managed the strategic sale of a portion of DIRECTV to AT&T valued at more than $5.6 billion.
Sherwood earned his bachelor of arts degree in economics with honors from Stanford University in 1976 and a masters of business administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1978.
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Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing
David Turner is Gateway's senior vice president of sales and marketing, responsible for leveraging the company's unique multichannel distribution strategy to reach core target segments, which include consumer, small and medium business (SMB), government and education. He is also responsible for the company's customer service and support activities. David joined Gateway in 2000 as vice president of marketing, leading the product management (P&L), advertising, research, segment and relationship marketing, and other marketing programs efforts to create value through positive brand recognition.
Prior to joining Gateway, Turner spent more than 14 years with AT&T. There he held sales and marketing management positions, including general manager of sales and service for the company's small-business customers, and vice president of electronic sales and service.
A champion of the business industry, Turner was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the "50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America" in 2002. He was recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration as "The Small Business Advocate of the Year" in 1996 and received the YMCA's 1999 National Salute to Achievers in Industry Award. In 2000, Turner also received the Institute for Student Achievement's Community Service Award.
A native of Annapolis, MD, Turner earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from Delaware State University in 1986 and a master of science degree from Farleigh Dickinson University. He also participated in the Amos Tuck Executive MBA program at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. Turner resides in San Diego with his wife and daughter.
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Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Jack Van Berkel is senior vice president of human resources for Gateway with responsibility for managing Gateway's culture, people development, training, staffing, compensation and benefits, health and safety, employee relations, human resources information systems and community relations for Gateway's more than 12,000 employees across the country.
Reporting to Chairman and CEO Ted Waitt, Van Berkel will continue the mission of preserving Gateway's unique corporate culture while constructing a scalable, world-class HR infrastructure.
Before coming to Gateway in March 2001, Van Berkel was senior vice president of human resources for Netigy Corporation, a San Jose, CA-based eBusiness infrastructure company. Before joining Netigy in 1999, Van Berkel was vice president of human resources for Western Digital, an Irvine, CA-based disk drive maker from 1995 until 1999. Van Berkel also held vice president positions in human resources with two San Francisco Bay-area companies, Walker Interactive Systems and Bank of America.
Born May 6, 1960, Van Berkel earned a bachelor's of science degree in business administration San Diego State University in 1982.
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Senior Vice President, Digital Solutions
Greg van den Dries leads the development and distribution of the company's "beyond the box" products such as digital solutions, services and infrastructure offerings. He also directs the integration of services such as communications, Broadband, wireless and entertainment into personalized solutions.
A 15-year industry veteran, van den Dries most recently served as chief operating officer for SportBrain, a wireless consumer fitness company, where he built a retail sales organization and channel consisting of 2,000 storefronts. Prior to that, van den Dries was senior vice president of sales and business development for ConsumerREVIEW. From 1995 to 1999, van den Dries served as CEO of the V2 Management Group, a sales and marketing consulting firm he founded. Van den Dries also held senior positions with SonicBLUE, Creative Labs and Truevision, an AT&T spin-off.
Van den Dries earned a bachelor of business administration in marketing from the University of Texas. He also attended AT&T's Executive Development Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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