Board of Directors
Glen M. Kassan
Glen M. Kassan was elected as Chairman of the Board on May 14, 2008 and was Vice Chairman of the Board from August 2005 until May 2008. Mr. Kassan has served as a director on the Board since January 2002 and previously served as President of the Company from February 2002 until August 2005, as interim Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") from June 14, 2010 to June 29, 2010, and as interim Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") from June 14, 2010 to August 30, 2010. He is a Managing Director and operating partner of Steel Partners LLC ("Steel Partners"), a global management firm, and has been associated with Steel Partners and its affiliates since August 1999. Steel Partners is the manager of Steel Partners Holdings L.P. ("SPH"), a global diversified holding company that has engaged or held interests in a variety of operating businesses through its subsidiary companies, since July 2009. Mr. Kassan served as the Vice President, CFO and Secretary of the predecessor entity of SPH from June 2000 to April 2007. Mr. Kassan has served as a director of Handy & Harman Ltd. ("HNH") (f.k.a WHX Corporation) since July 2005 and as the Vice Chairman of the Board and CEO of HNH since October 2005. He was a director of United Industrial Corporation ("UIC"), a company principally focused on the design, production and support of defense systems, which was acquired by Textron Inc., from October 2002 to November 2007. As a result of these and other professional experiences, including his years of leadership experience in manufacturing, industrial and other public companies having attributes similar to our Company as well as the expertise he possesses in capital markets and corporate finance, we believe Mr. Kassan is qualified to serve as Chairman of the Board.
Mark E. Schwarz
Mark E. Schwarz was elected as a director on January 24, 2002. He is the Chairman of the Board, CEO and Portfolio Manager of Newcastle Capital Management, L.P. ("NCM"), which is the general partner of Newcastle Partners, L.P., a private investment firm he founded in 1993. Mr. Schwarz presently serves as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. ("Hallmark"), a specialty property and casualty insurer. He was elected Executive Chairman of Hallmark in August 2006. He served as CEO of Hallmark from January 2003 until August 2006, and as President from November 2003 through March 2006. Mr. Schwarz has, since February 2004, served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pizza Inn, Inc., an operator and franchisor of pizza restaurants and has served on its Board of Directors since December 2002. Mr. Schwarz has, since September 2004, served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bell Industries, Inc., a company primarily engaged in providing computer systems integration services and has served on its board of directors since 2000. Mr. Schwarz was appointed the CEO of Wilhelmina International, Inc., a talent representation company, in April 2009 and has served as its Chairman of the Board since June 2004. Mr. Schwarz served as a director of MedQuist, Inc., a provider of clinical documentation workflow solutions in support of electronic health records, from 2007 to 2009, and Nashua Corporation, a manufacturer of specialty papers, labels and printing supplies, from 2001 to 2009. Within the past five years, Mr. Schwarz was a director of WebFinancial and Vesta Insurance Group, Inc. With nearly 20 years experience as an investment manager and a business executive, Mr. Schwarz brings significant leadership, financial expertise, operational skills and public company board of directors and executive experience to the Board. Through investments made by NCM and its affiliates, Mr. Schwarz has broad and substantial experience analyzing and advising public companies, including with respect to issues such as corporate governance, capital raising, capital allocation and general operational and business strategy, and has been closely involved in the operations of companies across a range of industries in both director and executive capacities. As a result of these and other professional experiences, including his extensive business and investment expertise and broad director experience, the Company has concluded that Mr. Schwarz is qualified to serve as a director.
Avrum Gray
Avrum Gray was elected as a director on May 23, 2002. Mr. Gray is the Chairman of G-Bar Limited Partnership, one of the nation's largest independent options trading firms and a leading specialist in computer-based arbitrage activities in the derivative markets, and has held this position since 1982. From 2000 until December 2009, Mr. Gray was a director of Nashua Corporation, a specialty paper, label and printing supplies manufacturer. From 1999 until December 2009 Mr. Gray was a director of the LGL Group, Inc. (formerly the Lynch Corporation), a holding company with subsidiaries engaged in manufacturing and distributing frequency control devices and other equipment. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Gray was a director of Material Sciences Corporation, a materials solution provider. Mr. Gray is the former Chairman of the Board of Lynch Systems, Inc., a glass press supplier to the television and computer industry, and a former CEO of Alloy Consolidated Industries, a privately held manufacturer of components and devices for the automotive aftermarket. Additionally, Mr. Gray has been Chairman of the Board of Spertus College, as well as a board member of the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Stuart School and a number of philanthropic organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Chicago. As a result of these and other professional experiences, the Company has concluded Mr. Gray is qualified to serve as a director based on his positions of leadership in other public and private companies.
James A. Risher
James A. Risher was elected as a director on May 29, 2003. Mr. Risher has been the Managing Partner of Lumina Group, LLC, a private company engaged in the business of consulting and investing in small and mid-size companies, since 1998. Mr. Risher has served as a director of Del Global Technologies Corp. ("Del Global") since April 2005. He was also the President and CEO of Del Global from August 2006 through August 2009. From February 2001 to May 2002, Mr. Risher served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of BlueStar Battery Systems International, Inc. ("BlueStar"), a Canadian public company that is an e-commerce distributor of electrical and electronic products to selected automotive aftermarket segments and targeted industrial markets. BlueStar filed CCAA (a petition for reorganization under Canadian bankruptcy laws) in August 2001, and a plan of reorganization was approved in November 2001. From 1986 to 1998, Mr. Risher served as a director, CEO and President of Exide Electronics Group, Inc. ("Exide"), a global leader in the uninterruptible power supply industry. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Exide from December 1997 to July 1998. Mr. Risher was also a director of Wilhelmina International, Inc. (formerly, New Century Equity Holdings Corp.) from October 2004 until January 2010. As a result of these and other professional experiences, including numerous leadership positions in other public and private companies, as well as his knowledge of the Company and the industries in which it operates, the Company has concluded that Mr. Risher is qualified to serve as a director.
Warren G. Lichtenstein
Warren G. Lichtenstein was elected as a director on March 30, 2010 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of James R. Henderson. From February 2002 until August 2005, Mr. Lichtenstein served as CEO of the Company. Mr. Lichtenstein had previously served as a director of the Company from January 2002 to May 2008 and from 1993 to 1997. Mr. Lichtenstein is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Steel Partners. Mr. Lichtenstein has been associated with Steel Partners and its affiliates since 1990. Mr. Lichtenstein has been the Chairman of the Board and CEO of SPH since July 2009. He is a Co-Founder of Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore), L.P., a private investment partnership investing in Japan, and Steel Partners China Access I LP, a private equity partnership investing in China. He also co-founded Steel Partners II, L.P., a private investment partnership that is now a wholly owned subsidiary of SPH, in 1993. Mr. Lichtenstein has served as a director of GenCorp Inc., a manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems with a real estate business segment, since March 2008. He also served as the Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc., a company formed for the purpose of acquiring one or more businesses or assets, from February 2007 until October 2009. Mr. Lichtenstein has served as a director of ADPT Corporation, a company currently seeking to acquire one or more business operations, since October 2010. Mr. Lichtenstein has also served as Chairman of the Board of HNH since July 2005. Mr. Lichtenstein served as a director of the predecessor entity of SPH from 1996 to June 2005, as Chairman and CEO from December 1997 to June 2005 and as President from December 1997 to December 2003. Mr. Lichtenstein served as a director (formerly Chairman of the Board) of UIC from May 2001 to November 2007. He served as a director of KT&G Corporation, South Korea's largest tobacco company, from March 2006 to March 2008. Mr. Lichtenstein served as a director of Layne Christensen Company, a provider of products and services for the water, mineral and energy markets, from January 2004 to October 2006. He served as a director of BKF Capital Group, Inc., the parent company of John A. Levin & Co., an investment management firm from 2005 to 2006. As a result of these and other professional experiences, we believe Mr. Lichtenstein is qualified to serve as a member of the Board due to his expertise in corporate finance, his experience in managing private investment funds and his related service as a director of, and advisor to, a diverse group of public companies, including other companies having attributes similar to the Company.