Meet Our Leadership
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Walter Massey
Board Chair, Former Director of the National Science FoundationDr. Walter Massey is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the GMTO Corporation. He is also Chairman of the Board of the City Colleges of Chicago and Senior Advisor to the President of the University of Chicago. Dr. Massey is President Emeritus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), having served as President from 2010-2016, and Chancellor from 2016-2018. He is the former Director of Argonne National Laboratory and former Vice President for Research at the University of Chicago. From 1991 to 1993, Dr. Massey served as Director of the National Science Foundation before joining the University of California system as Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. In 1995 he became President of Morehouse College, where he served for twelve years. He has been professor of physics at Brown, University of Chicago, and UC Santa Cruz.
In the corporate sector, Dr. Massey is the former Chairman of Bank of America and a former member of the Board of Directors of the McDonald’s Corporation and Delta Airlines. He has also served on the boards of the Mellon Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, Smithsonian Institution, and others. He has been recognized with honorary degrees from 42 universities, including Harvard, Yale, SAIC, Columbia, and Brown.
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Taft Armandroff
Board Vice-Chair, McDonald Observatory Director and Professor, The University of Texas at AustinDr. Armandroff is the McDonald Observatory Director, a Professor, and Frank and Susan Bash Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining UT Austin, Dr. Armandroff was Observatory Director at the W.M. Keck Observatory. He worked for 19 years at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in Tucson, AZ, where he became Associate Director of NOAO and Director of the NOAO Gemini office. Dr. Armandroff’s research focuses on dwarf spheroidal galaxies, stellar populations in our galaxy and nearby galaxies, globular clusters, and astronomical instrumentation. He has served as an advisor or Board member for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, the Mauna Kea Management Board at the University of Hawaii, the Observatory Council for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, the Mathematical and Physical Science Advisory Committee for the National Science Foundation, and the External Advisory Panel for the Thirty Meter Telescope.
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John Arnold
Interim Senior Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer, The University of ArizonaJohn Arnold serves as the interim senior vice president for Business Affairs & Chief Financial Officer at the University of Arizona. In this role as the University’s senior business and financial officer, his responsibilities include overseeing Arizona Public Media; Bookstore; budget and financial planning; facility services – GIS, space management, planning/design/construction, facilities management, and utilities; Financial Services – Bursar, CatCard, purchasing, contracting, auditing, treasury, accounts payable, and payroll; Office of Sustainability; Parking & Transportation; and Student Unions.
Since July of 2018, Arnold has served as the Arizona Board of Regents executive director, guiding strategic goals to increase educational access and attainment while advancing Arizona’s public university system to serve students and impact Arizona’s economy. He joined the board office in March of 2015 as vice president of business management and financial affairs, developing financial policies and procedures for the university enterprise, addressing capital development and state budget requests, and coordinating system-wide analysis of complex financial issues.
With more than 20 years serving the state of Arizona, Arnold brings significant public service experience and a deep commitment to higher education to the position. He has an exceptional background in financial affairs and a proven track record of leadership, serving as Gov. Jan Brewer’s state budget director where he was instrumental in providing fiscal direction and solutions for the state during the Great Recession as well as implementing the budget and advising the governor on all related matters.
Throughout his career, he has worked with leaders in education from K-12 to college. As director of the Arizona School Facilities Board, he managed programs for new school construction, building renewals, and energy savings.
Arnold is married with five children. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and his master’s degrees in accounting and public administration from Brigham Young University.
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Wayne Alexander
President, SBC Southwestern Bell, RetiredMr. Alexander was President of SBC (now AT&T) from 1999 to 2002. During his 32-year career at SBC, he held a variety of executive positions in network operations, sales, marketing, and governmental affairs, and international operations. Prior to his term as President, Mr. Alexander led SBC operations in Chile and the Asia Pacific region. He was VP of sales for Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages, directing network and marketing for Southwestern Bell Texas. Mr. Alexander now serves on a number of boards, including Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio Medical Foundation, LiftFund, Port Authority of San Antonio, UT Austin McDonald Observatory, and Department of Astronomy Board of Visitors, and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
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Jack Baldauf
Interim Vice Provost for Research, Texas A&M UniversityIn his role as Texas A&M’s Interim Vice Provost for Research, Jack Baldauf, provides leadership for strategic research planning, space and environmental initiatives, faculty development and recognition, and international programs to further the University’s research mission.
Baldauf is a professor in the Department of Oceanography, College of Geosciences. In his previous positions with the college, he served as executive associate dean and associate dean for research and deputy director and manager of science operations for the International Ocean Discovery Program.
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Vitor de Souza
Professor in Astrophysics, São Paulo Research FoundationDr. de Souza is a professor in astrophysics at the University of São Paulo. His research interest is in astroparticle physics, involving data analysis, instrumentation, simulation and astrophysical modeling. He is a member of the Pierre Auger and Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatories. He is currently Chair of the CTA Consortium Board, Coordinator of the Astronomy and Space Sciences at FAPESP, Co-chair of the Department of Physics and Interdisciplinary Science, Member of the Technical Council and Scientific Member of the National High Energy Physics Network and Alternate Member of the Board of Directors of the Latin American Physics Center (CLAF). Dr. de Souza studied Physics in the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and received his PhD from the same institution in 2004. He worked as a postdoc at the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences of the University of São Paulo (2004-2007) and as a researcher at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany (2007-2008). In 2018 he was visiting researcher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics, at University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
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Daniel Eisenstein
Professor of Astronomy and Chair of the Department of Astronomy, Harvard UniversityDr. Eisenstein is a professor of astronomy at Harvard University. He studies cosmology and extragalactic astronomy using theoretical and observational methods. He was part of the University of Arizona astronomy faculty for nine years before moving to Harvard in 2010. He has been active in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and has been the Director of SDSS-III, a collaboration working to map the Milky Way, search for extrasolar planets, and solve the mystery of dark energy since 2007. He is the co-Spokesperson of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument collaboration. He is a member of the JWST Near-Infrared Camera instrument team, the SDSS-IV Consortium, and the Euclid Consortium. In 2012, he served as chair of the National Science Foundation Astronomy Portfolio Review committee. Currently, he is serving as Chair of the Cosmology Science Panel of the Astro 2020 Decadal Survey. In 2014, he received the Shaw Prize in Astronomy and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
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Buell Jannuzi
Steward Observatory Director and head of the Department of Astronomy, University of ArizonaDr. Jannuzi heads the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona and is the Director of the Steward Observatory, which includes the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab. He joined the University of Arizona after 17 years at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), during which time he served as Director of Kitt Peak National Observatory and Associate Director at NOAO. He serves as an advisor or Board Member for the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee of the NSF, the American Astronomical Society Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy, the AAS Council, and the LSSTC Executive Board of Directors, and was a member of the Thirty Meter Telescope Science Advisory Committee and the International Dark Sky Association Board of Directors. Dr. Jannuzi’s research interests include observational cosmology, quasar absorption line systems, active galaxies, and instrumentation for surveys.
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Lisa Kewley
Director, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & SmithsonianDr. Kewley is the Director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Director of the Harvard College Observatory, and Professor of Astrophysics at the Harvard Department of Astronomy. Dr. Kewley obtained her PhD in 2002 from the Australian National University on the connection between star-formation and supermassive black holes in galaxies. She was a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Fellow and a NASA Hubble Fellow. From 2017-2022, she implemented her scientific vision through her Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in All-Sky Astrophysics in 3D (ASTRO 3D).
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John Mulchaey
Director, The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for ScienceDr. Mulchaey is the director and the Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science. He also oversees Las Campanas Observatory in Chile—the future home of the GMT. Mulchaey's research covers a wide range of topics, including groups and clusters of galaxies, elliptical galaxies, dark matter—the invisible material that makes up most of the universe—active galaxies and black holes. Dr. Mulchaey received his B.S. in astrophysics from UC-Berkeley and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. He was a fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute and at Carnegie before joining the Carnegie staff. Dr. Mulchaey previously served as a scientific editor for The Astrophysical Journal and is a frequent consultant for NSF and NASA. He is also very actively involved in public outreach and education efforts throughout the Los Angeles area.
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Byeong-Gon Park
Director, Center for Large Telescopes, Korea Astronomy and Space Science InstituteByeong-Gon Park is the Director of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) Center for Large Telescopes and is Professor and Principal Researcher at KASI. He was previously the Director of the Optical/Infrared Astronomy Division and serves as a Board Member for the Korean Astronomical Society. His areas of expertise include star formation in young open clusters in our galaxy, extra-solar planet studies based on gravitational microlensing, and the development of CCD cameras for ground-based optical telescopes. He led the construction of the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), which consists of three widefield 1.6m telescopes distributed in Chile, South Africa, and Australia, and supported the exploration of the structure and diversity of planetary systems and variable objects, including very low-mass exoplanets.
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Chan Park
Instrument Scientist, Korea Astronomy and Space Science InstituteChan Park is an Instrument Scientist at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). His research interests include infrared instrumentation, optomechanics, cryogenics, star formation, stellar evolution, YSOs, embedded clusters, ISM, and radiative transfer in dusty media. Chan holds a PhD and a Master of Science degree in Astronomy from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, as well as a Master of Science degree in Astronomy from Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronomy from Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
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Sarah Pearce
Director, SKA Low TelescopeSarah Pearce is the Acting Chief Scientist of CSIRO, the Deputy Chief of CASS and the Director of the SKA Low Telescope Project. Prior to these roles, she was Project Manager for GridPP, the UK computing grid for particle physics. Sarah's previous experience includes time as a science advisor in the UK Parliament.
Sarah is currently the Deputy Director of CASS. Sarah has particular responsibility for CSIRO's role in the Square Kilometre Array project, and manages CSIRO's partnership with the SKA Observatory. She has been Australian Science Director on the SKA Board, and part of the negotiating team for the SKA Treaty. Sarah holds a PhD in X-ray astronomy from the University of Leicester and an undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Oxford (Worcester College).
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Randy Stringer
Founder, Nord Analytics LLCMr. Stringer is a finance executive with nearly 30 years’ experience at the crossroads of business, operations, technology, and finance. His experience includes tenure in the consulting, financial services, telecommunications, utilities, and government sectors. Before starting Nord Analytics, Mr. Stringer was a Partner at the boutique consultancy firm Stanton Blackwell and a Managing Director at MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group) in New York. Prior to his tenure at MUFG, he supported technology and operations functions at firms including BNY Mellon, Fannie Mae, and Capital One. Mr. Stringer earned his undergraduate degree at the Royal Military College of Canada and completed his Master of Business Administration at the University of Western Ontario. He is a military veteran in the Canadian Army and served with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in both the Cyprus and Croatia.
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Chris Tinney
Professor of Astronomy, University of New South WalesDr. Tinney is a Professor of Astronomy at the University New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, where he heads the Exoplanetary Science at UNSW Research Group he founded in 2007. His research focuses on exoplanets and brown dwarfs. He is a Chair of the Anglo-Australian Advisory Council and a member of the National Committee of Astronomy of the Australian Academy of Sciences. He is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Dr. Tinney has served as Head of Astronomy for the Anglo-Australian Observatory. He served as a member of the GMTO Science Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2016. He has been a lead investigator for multiple astronomical instrumentation projects, including the IRIS2 and Veloce instruments for the Anglo-Australian Telescope.
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Rebecca Bernstein
Co-Chair, Chief Scientist, Giant Magellan TelescopeDr. Bernstein is the Chief Scientist at the GMTO Corporation and plays a leading role in ensuring that the observatory and its instruments will enable scientists at the Founder institutions to meet the project’s scientific goals. She interfaces with the technical and scientific community and represents the project at scientific conferences around the world. She is an accomplished optical designer and builder of scientific instruments, having designed and built a high-resolution spectrograph for Magellan and carried out the optical design for several others. She held professorships at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Santa Cruz before coming to GMTO. While at the University of California she led the design of a spectrograph for the Thirty Meter Telescope. She is a Staff Astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution.
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Steven Finkelstein
Co-chair, Professor of Astronomy, UT AustinDr. Steven Finkelstein is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Director of UT Austin’s Cosmic Frontier Center. His research focuses on observational studies of galaxy formation and evolution in the early universe, using the largest space and ground-based observatories. He received his B.S. from the University of Washington in 2003, and his Ph.D. in Physics from Arizona State University in 2008.
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Daniel Apai
Associate Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, The University of Arizona -
Katie Auchettl
Associate Professor in Astrophysics, University of Melbourne -
Robert Blum
Acting Director, Vera C. Rubin Observatory -
Brendan Bowler
Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin -
Alex Carciofi
Universidade de São Paulo – Brazil -
Daniel Fabricant
Associate Director, Optical & Infrared Division, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics -
Mike Gladders
Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago -
Jenny Greene
Assistant Professor of Astrophysics, Princeton -
Benjamin Montet
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Andrew Newman
Staff Astronomer at Carnegie Institution for Science -
Casey Papovich
Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University -
Mónica Rubio
Professor, Universidad de Chile -
Rob Sharp
Australian National University -
Rob Simcoe
MIT -
Dan Stark
Professor, University of Arizona
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Walter Massey
Board Chair, Former Director of the National Science FoundationDr. Walter Massey is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the GMTO Corporation. He is also Chairman of the Board of the City Colleges of Chicago and Senior Advisor to the President of the University of Chicago. Dr. Massey is President Emeritus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), having served as President from 2010-2016, and Chancellor from 2016-2018. He is the former Director of Argonne National Laboratory and former Vice President for Research at the University of Chicago. From 1991 to 1993, Dr. Massey served as Director of the National Science Foundation before joining the University of California system as Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. In 1995 he became President of Morehouse College, where he served for twelve years. He has been professor of physics at Brown, University of Chicago, and UC Santa Cruz.
In the corporate sector, Dr. Massey is the former Chairman of Bank of America and a former member of the Board of Directors of the McDonald’s Corporation and Delta Airlines. He has also served on the boards of the Mellon Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, Smithsonian Institution, and others. He has been recognized with honorary degrees from 42 universities, including Harvard, Yale, SAIC, Columbia, and Brown.
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Eduardo Ergas
President, Fundación EcoscienceBased in Santiago, Chile, Eduardo Ergas is a philanthropist and entrepreneur with broad experience in the financial sector. Eduardo is President of Fundación EcoScience and President and Owner of EcoCopter. Eduardo belongs to several boards in Chile and the US. In 2004, he founded the Chilean not-for-profit Fundación EcoScience to create a bridge between the scientific community and Chilean society.
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Patricia López
Vice President, Fundación Ecoscience, ArchitectPatricia is the Vice President of Fundación EcoScience and is a commercial architect. She is also the director of the Mi Parque Foundation. Patricia Lopez is the wife of Eduardo Ergas.
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Jeff Sine
Co-Founder Raine Group, Co-Founder Sine Institute of Policy & PoliticsJeff Sine is Co-Founder and Partner of the Raine Group, a global merchant bank focused on technology, media and telecommunications. A three-time Tony Award Winner, Jeff has produced plays and musicals Broadway and in London’s West End.
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Samira Sine
Journalist, Co-Founder Sine Institute of Policy & PoliticsSamira Sine has more than 15 years’ experience as a journalist, writer, on-air broadcaster, and producer at the BBC’s World Business Report, Reuters, and the Huffington Post. Samira has served on multiple boards of organizations committed to women’s and children’s health and education.
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George Whitesides
Chair, Space Advisory Board for Virgin GalacticGeorge T. Whitesides is CSO (Chief Space Officer) at Virgin Galactic and was long time CEO of Virgin Galactic. Previously, George was Chief of Staff of NASA, and Executive Director of the National Space Society.
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Robert Shelton
President, Giant Magellan TelescopeDr. Robert Shelton is President of the GMTO Corporation, the international nonprofit organization building the Giant Magellan Telescope. Prior to joining the Giant Magellan Telescope in 2017, Dr. Shelton was the President of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, America’s first foundation dedicated solely to funding science. Previously, Dr. Shelton served as the 19th President of the University of Arizona, the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and the Vice Provost for Research for the University of California system. His leadership role involving large astronomy project includes governing board service on the Keck Observatories (California Association for Research in Astronomy), the LSST Corporation (Rubin Observatory), the Space Telescope Institute Council (Hubble Telescope), and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.
As a distinguished physicist, Dr. Shelton studied experimental condensed matter focusing on novel materials and their properties. During this time, he authored more than 240 research publications in refereed journals and 100 contributing papers. Dr. Shelton received his B.S. from Stanford University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.
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Jennifer Eccles
Vice President of Development and External Relations, Giant Magellan TelescopeJennifer Eccles is the Vice President for Development and External Relations at GMTO. For ten years, she worked at the University of Southern California in development leadership roles, as the Executive Director of Development at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Chief Development Officer at USC Libraries. Jennifer has spent her career in higher education advancement, and has worked at the University of Washington, Washington State University and the University of Idaho in development roles.
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Robert Shelton
PresidentDr. Shelton is President of the GMTO Corporation, the international nonprofit building the Giant Magellan Telescope. Prior to joining the Giant Magellan Telescope in 2017, Dr. Shelton was the President of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, America’s first foundation dedicated solely to funding science. Previously, Dr. Shelton served as the 19th President of the University of Arizona, the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and the Vice Provost for Research for the University of California system. His leadership role involving large astronomy project includes governing board service on the Keck Observatories (California Association for Research in Astronomy), the LSST Corporation (Rubin Observatory), the Space Telescope Institute Council (Hubble Telescope), and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.
As a distinguished physicist, Dr. Shelton studied experimental condensed matter focusing on novel materials and their properties. During this time, he authored more than 240 research publications in refereed journals and 100 contributing papers. Dr. Shelton received his B.S. from Stanford University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.
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Rebecca Bernstein
Chief ScientistDr. Bernstein is Chief Scientist at the GMTO Corporation and plays a leading role in ensuring that the observatory and its instruments will enable scientists at the Founder institutions to meet the project’s scientific goals. She interfaces with the technical and scientific community and represents the project at scientific conferences around the world. She is an accomplished optical designer and builder of scientific instruments, having designed and built a high-resolution spectrograph for Magellan and carried out the optical design for several others. She held professorships at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Santa Cruz before coming to GMTO. While at the University of California she led the design of a spectrograph for the Thirty Meter Telescope. She is a Staff Astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution.
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William Burgett
Project ManagerDr. Burgett is Project Manager at the GMTO Corporation, overseeing the design, construction, and operation of the Giant Magellan Telescope. He served as Interim Project Manager since February 2023 and Deputy Project Manager since 2015. During his time, Dr. Burgett has simultaneously served as the Interim Element Manager for (1) Optics and Optomechanics, (2) Site, Enclosure, and Facilities, and (3) Telescope Structures. As Manager of the Telescope Structures element, he was part of the leadership team for the telescope mount procurement, and was contract manager for both the Mount Stage 1 and Stage 2 contracts. Prior to joining the GMTO Corporation, Dr. Burgett was the Pan-STARRS project manager from 2005-2014 at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy. He has more than 40 years of experience in physics and astronomy research, aerospace engineering, university teaching, and project management.
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Oscar Contreras-Villarroel
Vice President and Legal Representative, ChileMr. Contreras is Vice President and Legal Representative in Chile at the GMTO Corporation. He is the founder of the Fundación Ciencia Joven; Board member of the Cielos de Chile Foundation; Engage Advisory Board member of the Falling Walls Foundation; and an Advisory Board member of HundrED. He has over ten years of experience in government relations at a local and national level, relations with international organizations, multi-stakeholders partnership development, project management, fundraising, grantmaking and philanthropy. He holds a Master in Public Policy from the University of Chile, a Diploma in Public Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy at The University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from The Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso.
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Jennifer Eccles
Vice President for Development and External RelationsMs. Eccles is Vice President for Development and External Relations at the GMTO Corporation. For ten years, she worked at the University of Southern California in development leadership roles, as the Executive Director of Development at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Chief Development Officer at USC Libraries. She has spent her career in higher education advancement, and has worked at the University of Washington, Washington State University and the University of Idaho in development roles.
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Alan Gordon
Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business OperationsMr. Gordon is Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business Operations at the GMTO Corporation. He leads financial operations and works closely with the Executive Team and Finance Committee to set financial policy and strategic plans. He was Chief Financial Officer at Transcu Group Limited, Segment Financial Officer at SunGard Data Systems, Inc., and Finance Director for Avery Dennison Corporation. He is experienced in U.S. GAAP and IFRS accounting; management and statutory reporting; budgeting, forecasting, planning, and analysis. Mr. Gordon has worked in international finance across Asia and the Pacific Rim.
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Kevin Mills
Vice President for Legal Affairs and General CounselMr. Mills is Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel at the GMTO Corporation. He serves on the Executive Team to manage legal affairs, support the Board and its committees, support policy development and regulatory compliance, and engage with outside organizations on legal matters. He has a broad background in non-profit governance, contracts, compliance, employment law, intellectual property, privacy, litigation, and claims management. Prior to joining the GMTO Corporation, he served for eight years as General Counsel to University of the Pacific. As a managing shareholder in private practice, he specialized in legal matters affecting institutions of higher education. He is a member of the California Bar, the Association of Corporate Counsel and the National Association of College and University Attorneys.