Board of Directors

Ajay Shah has served as director and Chairman of the Board of SMART Global Holdings since its inception in 2011 and became Executive Chairman in August 2020. Mr. Shah was previously the Co-CEO starting in March 2018 and then President and Chief Executive Officer of SMART Global Holdings from June 2018 to August 2020.

Mr. Shah joined Silver Lake, a global investment firm, in 2007, and is the co-founder and Managing Partner of the firm’s middle market fund, Silver Lake Sumeru. Since 2014, Mr. Shah has also served as a Senior Operating Partner of Sumeru Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. Previously, he founded Shah Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Mr. Shah co-founded SMART Modular in 1988 and served as Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer through SMART Modular’s initial public offering in 1995 and until 1999, when it was acquired by Solectron.

Mr. Shah currently serves on the boards of directors of a number of private technology companies including Alpha Petroleum, Healthgrades and Velocity Technology Solutions, Inc. Mr. Shah previously served on the boards of directors of many public and private technology companies including Magellan Navigation, Inc., AVI-SPL, Inc., CMAC MicroTechnology, Flex, Ingenient Technologies Inc., Power-One, Inc., PulseCore Semiconductor, Spansion Inc. and TES Electronic Solutions.

Mr. Shah also previously served on the board of Northern California Public Broadcasting, is currently a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, serves on the boards of National Audubon Society and The Indian School of Business, India and is a Trustee of the American India Foundation. Mr. Shah has a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Baroda, India and an M.S. degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University.

Mark Adams became our President and CEO as of August 31, 2020 and has served as a director since September 2020. Mr. Adams served as the CEO of Lumileds, Inc. from February 2017 until March 2019, and he currently remains in an advisory role to Lumileds, Inc. Previously, Mr. Adams served as the President of Micron Technology, Inc. from February 2012 to February 2016. From 2006 to February 2012, Mr. Adams served in a number of positions at Micron Technology, Inc., including as the Vice President of Worldwide Sales and the Vice President of Digital Media. Prior to joining Micron Technology, Inc., Mr. Adams served as the Chief Operating Officer of Lexar Media, Inc. in 2006. Mr. Adams also served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Creative Labs, Inc. from 2002 to 2006. In addition, he held numerous roles at Creative Labs, Inc. prior to 2002, including five years as the General Manager of Latin America. Prior to joining Creative Labs, Inc., Mr. Adams spent five years in major account sales for the enterprise server business of NCR Corporation. Mr. Adams has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Seagate Technology PLC since 2017, the Board of Directors of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. since 2015, and the Board of Directors of Whistle Sports, Inc. since 2014. Mr. Adams holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University, focused in finance and international marketing.

Randy Furr has served as a director since September 2017. Mr. Furr joined Bloom Energy in April 2015 and served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer until his retirement on March 31, 2020. Prior to Bloom Energy, he served as Corporate Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Spansion Inc. from June 2009 to March 2015 when Spansion was acquired by Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. Mr. Furr has over 35 years of experience in the technology sector and is an experienced financial and operations executive. Mr. Furr also held senior executive positions as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Magellan Navigation, Inc. from August 2008 to June 2009, and as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Aliph, a consumer Bluetooth telephony device company, from April 2008 to August 2008. Prior to that, Mr. Furr was at Adobe Systems, Inc., where he served as Senior Vice President, Business Process Improvement from May 2007 to January 2008, as Senior Vice President and Interim Chief Information Officer from November 2006 to May 2007, and as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from May 2006 to November 2006. Before joining Adobe Systems, Inc., Mr. Furr spent 13 years at Sanmina Corporation, an electronics manufacturing services provider, where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1996 to 2005 and as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1992 to 1996. Mr. Furr served as a director of Sanmina Corporation from 1998 until 2005. Mr. Furr holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Kenneth Hao has served as a director since 2011. He is Chairman and a Managing Partner of Silver Lake. Prior to joining Silver Lake in 2000, Mr. Hao was an investment banker with Hambrecht & Quist, a technology-focused investment bank and venture capital firm, for 10 years, most recently serving as a Managing Director in the Technology Investment Banking group. Mr. Hao currently serves on the boards of directors of SolarWinds, ServiceMax and NortonLifeLock. In addition, Mr. Hao previously served as a director of Broadcom, NetScout Systems, Inc., UGS Corp., Network General Corporation and Certance Holdings, which was acquired by Quantum Corporation and formerly a division of Seagate Technology. Mr. Hao holds an A.B. degree in Economics from Harvard College.

Bryan Ingram, has served as a director since October 2018. Mr. Ingram retired from Broadcom effective March 20, 2020. Mr. Ingram served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Wireless Semiconductor Division (WSD) from November 2015 until November 3, 2019 and from 2007 to March 2013. As Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mr. Ingram oversaw at WSD the development, production, and marketing of RF components used in handsets and other communications devices. Mr. Ingram served as Chief Operating Officer of Avago Technologies from April 2013 until October 2015. In this role, he led the legacy Avago business units and operations. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Ingram was Vice President of WSD. Prior to the founding of Avago from the Agilent Semiconductor Products Group (SPG) in 2005, Mr. Ingram was Vice President and General Manager of the SPG Wireless Semiconductor Division. From 1986 to 1999, Mr. Ingram held various management positions at Hewlett Packard and Westinghouse. Mr. Ingram holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Sandeep Nayyar has served as a director since September 2014 and as our Lead Independent Director since December 2020. Mr. Nayyar has been the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Power Integrations, Inc., a supplier of high performance electronic components, from 2010 to the present. Prior to that, from 2001 to 2009, Mr. Nayyar served as the Vice President of Finance for Applied Biosystems, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of life sciences products. From 1990 to 2001, Mr. Nayyar served in various senior finance roles including Vice President Finance at Quantum Corporation, a computer storage company. Mr. Nayyar was with Ernst & Young LLP, a public accounting firm, from 1986 to 1990 including service as an Audit Manager. Mr. Nayyar is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California and a Chartered Accountant in India and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Delhi, India.

Mukesh Patel has served as a director of SMART Global Holdings since March 2013 and served as a director of SMART Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a predecessor to SMART Global Holdings, Inc., from 2004 until 2012. Mr. Patel is an entrepreneur and an active startup investor. He has over 35 years of experience in the semiconductor and hardware industry and has held the position as Chairman, CEO and other executive roles, He is also an investor, board member and a mentor to multiple startups in Silicon Valley. Mr. Patel was a co-founder of Metta Technology, a codec chip design company, and served as CEO of Sparkolor Corporation, an optical device company. Mr. Patel co-founded our Company in 1988 and served as a director and in various management and executive roles until its acquisition by Solectron in 1999. Prior to co-founding our Company, Mr. Patel served in various roles at semiconductor technology companies, including Seeq Technology Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. and Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. Mr. Patel currently serves on the boards of directors of a number of other private technology companies. He holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Bombay University, India.

Maximiliane Straub has served as a director of SMART Global Holdings since April 2019. Ms. Straub has served with the Robert Bosch companies for over 26 years and currently serves as President Global Business Services Bosch, a position she has held since January 1, 2020. Ms. Straub also serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance, Controlling and Administration of Bosch North LLC, a position she has held since June 2010. Prior to joining the Robert Bosch companies, Ms. Straub held several financial positions within the semiconductor division of Siemens and Siemens/Matsushita. Ms. Straub serves on the Board of Directors of Inforum, a professional organization focused on creating strategic connections to help advance professional women. In 2010, 2015 and 2020, Ms. Straub was recognized by Automotive News as one of the “Top 100 Women in the Auto Industry.” She is a guest lecturer for the University of Michigan Ross School of Business program, “Ascending to the C-Suite: From Theory to Practice.” Ms. Straub served on the Boards of Directors of MTS Systems Corporation and Horizon Global Corporation and AQuantia. Ms. Straub’s educational degrees include Industriekauffrau IHK and an advanced business administration degree with thesis, Diplom-Betriebswirt from the University of Munich.

Jason White, has served as a director since 2011. He joined Silver Lake in 2006 and is its Chief Financial Officer, a position he has held since January 2020, and Managing Director. Prior to joining Silver Lake, Mr. White was an investment banker with the Media & Communications Investment Banking Group and the Equity Products Group at Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, an investment bank, from 2003 to 2006. Mr. White currently serves on the boards of directors of Achievers Corp. and Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc. Previously, he was on the boards of directors of Ancestry.com and SolarWinds Corporation. Mr. White holds a B.S.E. degree in Operations Research & Financial Engineering from Princeton University.