Velodyne Lidar, Inc., the leading lidar company, known worldwide for its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies, today announced the appointment of Theodore “Ted” L. Tewksbury, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer, effective November 10, 2021.
Dr. Tewksbury is a proven technology executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across a series of public and private companies. Dr. Tewksbury most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Eta Compute, a leading provider of ultra-low power AI vision systems. Prior to Eta Compute, he held several chief executive and board positions at leading high-technology companies, including Entropic Communications and Integrated Device Technology. Dr. Tewksbury is an accomplished engineer, with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT. He has held a variety of engineering and management positions in his career, including introducing over 180 innovative new product families during his time at Maxim Integrated Products.
“We are pleased to welcome Ted to the Velodyne team. Ted’s extensive leadership experience in addition to engineering expertise, make him an ideal candidate to lead Velodyne as we continue to lead the lidar industry with the most cutting-edge products and scalable manufacturing capacity,” said Michael Dee, Chairman of the Velodyne Board of Directors. “Innovation and execution are our most important priorities and Ted’s direct experience designing and manufacturing leading-edge technologies makes him a natural complement to Velodyne’s world-class technology development and engineering team. Velodyne is far and away the market leader, having sold over 15,000 sensors in the last 12 months with the widest product range in the industry. We are confident that under his leadership, Velodyne is poised to continue expanding its global footprint and drive long-term value for all shareholders.”
“I am thrilled to join Velodyne at such an exciting time in its development. It is an honor to be part of its world class management and engineering team. The opportunity set for Velodyne is vast and mass adoption is just around the corner,” said Dr. Tewksbury. “The Velodyne name is revered in the lidar space and I look forward to advancing the company’s strategy and driving value for all stakeholders for years to come.”
Hamid Zarringhalam, Board member and head of the Board’s CEO search committee said, “I am very proud the Board was able to conduct a robust and comprehensive three-month selection process to evaluate a deep pool of highly qualified candidates and unanimously select a candidate of Ted’s caliber to lead Velodyne forward. I also want to thank the Office of the Chief Executive (“OCE”), consisting of Jim Barnhart, Chief Operating Officer; Drew Hamer, Chief Financial Officer; Kathy McBeath, Chief People Officer, and Sinclair Vass, Chief Commercial Officer, as well as Chief Technology Officer Matt Rekow for their teamwork and critical contributions as we conducted our CEO search. Their teamwork in stepping in to manage the company was significant in helping us achieve this successful search.” With the appointment of Dr. Tewksbury, the OCE has been dissolved and each will remain with the company in their respective positions.
SOURCE: Velodyne Lidar
