Gideon Argov
Mr. Gideon Argov served from 2004 until recently as president and CEO of Entegris Incorporated, a global provider of key technologies for the semiconductor and electronics industries. From 2001 to 2004 he was a managing director for Parthenon Capital, a private equity investment company. From 1991 to 2000 he was chairman, president and CEO of Kollmorgen, a global technology company providing industrial automation and electro-optical products to commercial and government markets.
Mr. Argov serves as a director of J.M. Huber Corporation, a global provider of specialty chemicals and building products. He is the chairman of Energy Points, a provider of analytical software and services and chairman of Servotronix, a provider of drives and controls for factory automation.
Mr. Argov was awarded his MBA from Stanford University in 1983 and received his Bachelor of Arts in economics magna cum laude from Harvard University.
Bill Boisture
Mr. Bill Boisture has more than 30 years of aviation experience. Prior to his current role as CEO of Beechcraft, he was the president of Intrepid Aviation, a privately held commercial aircraft lessor, and a senior advisor for aerospace at The Carlyle Group. Mr. Boisture is the former president of NetJets, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and British Aerospace Corporate Jets, and the former chairman and CEO of Butler Aviation.
Mr. Boisture was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and graduated from the USAF Fighter Weapons School and the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (“Topgun” school). He was honorably discharged as a major after 11 years of service.
Mr. Boisture was on the board of directors for the Association of Graduates of the Air Force Academy for eight years and continues as trustee of the Falcon Foundation and as a member of World Presidents’ Organization. He earned a bachelor’s in engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Haven.
Mr. Boisture has a commercial instrument rating and continues to be an active pilot, logging more than 500 hours in the past two years.
General Donald G. (Don) Cook
Gen. Don G. Cook retired as a four-star general after a 36-year career in the U.S. Air Force. His culminating assignment was as the commander of the Air Education and Training Command where he was responsible for executing an $8+ billion annual budget to recruit, train and educate Air Force personnel and provide for the leadership, welfare and oversight of 90,000 military and civilian members.
During his career, Gen. Cook commanded three operational wings: the 20th Air Force (the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile force), was vice commander of AF Space Command and the commander of Air Combat Command during the Sept. 11, 2001, attack. Gen. Cook also served as the Air Force Chief of the U.S. Senate Liaison and on the staff of the House Armed Services Committee. During his career he flew more than 4,000 hours in various trainer, bomber and fighter aircraft.
Gen. Cook currently serves as an independent director on the boards of: Crane Corporation (Compensation), USAA Federal Savings Bank (Audit & Finance) and U.S. Security Associates (Compensation). He previously served on the board of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad until Berkshire Hathaway acquired it.
Gen. Cook earned his MBA from Southern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University. He served as an Air Force Senior Mentor for Executive Education programs conducted at the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia.
Gene Davis
Mr. Gene Davis is the chairman and CEO of PIRINATE Consulting Group, LLC. Since founding the firm in 1999, Mr. Davis has managed numerous debtor and creditor side restructuring assignments involving businesses in various industries including automotive; consumer products, retail & cataloging; financial services; healthcare & medical technology; industrial materials; manufacturing & distribution; media & entertainment; power, energy, oil, gas & mining; publishing; real estate; technology; telecommunications; and transportation & logistics.
Prior to founding PIRINATE Consulting, Mr. Davis served as COO of Total4Tel Communications, Inc., where he assisted the company in the design and implementation of a strategic business plan, arranged for the funding of new capital expenditures and advised the controlling shareholder in the sale of control to a private investor at a 72 percent premium to market.
Previously, Mr. Davis served as president, vice chairman and director of Emerson Radio Corp., where he was responsible for the post-bankruptcy initial public offering and relisting of the company on the American Stock Exchange without the aid of an outside financial advisor or placement agent; refinanced and issued new debt; successfully negotiated and completed the refinancing and assumption of control of Sport Supply Group, Inc.; divested one of Emerson’s largest, but most unprofitable, product lines; and negotiated, structured and closed the restructuring of more than $240 million in defaulted debt, which was accomplished through an expedited non-consensual Chapter 11 reorganization, with no external financial advisor.
Mr. Davis also practiced law as partner/shareholder and head of corporate & securities practice for Holmes, Millard & Duncan, P.C., in Dallas, Texas; as partner at Arter & Hadden in Dallas; and as an associate at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in Dallas, where he specialized in corporate and securities law and was involved in numerous public and private debt and equity securities offerings, asset based financing transactions, debt restructurings, and domestic and international acquisitions.
While at Arter and Hadden, the firm was the principal contractor to FDIC, FSLIC, FADA and RTC in the liquidation and/or forced merger of dozens of banks, savings & loans and other financial institutions in Texas and the southwest during the banking crisis and collapse of the late 1980s. During this time Mr. Davis held personal responsibility for more than a dozen of these projects and gained experience in governance, regulatory and funding issues in these types of institutions.
Mr. Davis earned a Bachelor of Arts in international politics, a master’s in international affairs and a J.D. from Columbia University. He continues to serve Columbia College as a member of the Board of Visitors.
Paul E. Fulchino
Mr. Paul E. Fulchino has more than 30 years of business leadership, marketing and finance experience. He possesses extensive knowledge and expertise regarding the commercial aviation industry, the company’s customers and supply base, and compensation and human resource matters. Mr. Fulchino also brings to the board public company board experience.
He served as the CEO, president, and chairman of the board of Aviall from Jan. 1, 2000, to Jan. 1, 2010. Aviall became a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company on Sept. 20, 2006. From 1996 to 1999, he served as the president and COO of BE Aerospace, a leading supplier of aircraft cabin products and services. From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Fulchino served as the president and vice chairman of Mercer Management Consulting, an international general management consulting firm. Earlier in his career, he held various engineering positions at Raytheon Company.
Mr. Fulchino currently serves as a director of Wesco Aircraft Holdings and Spirit AeroSystems, and he is a member of the President's Advisory Board of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He formerly served as a director of TSA Stores and as an independent director of MedSource Technologies.
Mr. Fulchino holds a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Boston College and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
Ralph Heath
Mr. Ralph D. Heath retired in May 2012 as Lockheed Martin’s executive vice president of the Aeronautics Business Area, which he led for more than seven years. The company has 26,000 employees at nine locations and major sites in Texas, Georgia and California.
During his tenure, the Aeronautics Business Area had unprecedented revenue and profitability growth, achieving more than $14 billion in annual sales. Aeronautics business covers the entire lifecycle of military aircraft from conceptual design through aftermarket support. Product lines include fifth generation fighters and air mobility, as well as manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
Mr. Heath joined Lockheed Martin in 1975 as a design engineer at the beginning of the F-16 fighter program. He progressed through a wide variety of positions in engineering, logistics, program management, production operations, business development and executive management. He successfully led the F-22 program during transition from development into rate production.
During his 37-year career, he was a leader in the tremendous growth of international business at Lockheed Martin, starting with the formation of TAI joint venture in Turkey. In the 1990s, Mr. Heath successfully led the business development organization during the build-up of the largest F-16 backlog in the history of the company. He personally conducted business in more than 30 countries in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, South America and the Pacific Rim.
Mr. Heath led the transition of the company into process-based management and headed the task of combining three heritage companies into the single Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company that exists today. He has been an agent of change throughout his career.
A U.S. Army veteran, Mr. Heath served nearly four years on active duty as a combat engineer officer and was qualified as an airborne ranger. He has a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He holds a commercial pilot’s license.
Among his civic responsibilities, Mr. Heath is a member of the advisory boards of the University of Tennessee Colleges of Engineering and Business, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He is past chairman of North Texas LEAD, a group of Fortune 500 businesses advocating diversity and inclusion in North Texas.
Robert (Bob) Johnson
Mr. Bob Johnson served as chairman of Honeywell Aerospace, the world's largest supplier of aircraft engines, equipment, systems and services for commercial transport, regional, general aviation and military aircraft. Prior to that role, he was the president and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace for six years.
Following his retirement from Honeywell in early 2006, Mr. Johnson served as CEO of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), a global aerospace manufacturing and services corporation. Based in Dubai, DAE established six aerospace subsidiaries including a university with flight training, manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul, aircraft leasing, airport management, and technical services. He retired and returned to Arizona at completion of the start-ups in late 2008.
Before becoming CEO of Honeywell Aerospace, Mr. Johnson had served as president and CEO of AlliedSignal Aerospace and led the acquisition of Honeywell. He joined AlliedSignal in July 1994 as vice president and general manager of Global Repair and Overhaul Operations. In 1996, he was named vice president and general manager of Aerospace Services, which included oversight of repair and overhaul, commercial spares and military customer support activities. He then became president and CEO of AlliedSignal Electronic & Avionics Systems.
Before joining AlliedSignal, Mr. Johnson was vice president and general manager of Manufacturing and Services for AAR Corporation, an aviation company headquartered in Chicago.
He began his career at GE Aircraft Engines, spending time in operations following earlier key financial management positions. In 1983, Mr. Johnson was appointed president and managing director of GE Aircraft Engine’s high-technology repair business in Singapore. While in Singapore, he also served as GE’s national executive representing a diverse set of eight GE businesses there. He later served as general manager of GE's global Field Service Engineering team and GE's global Engine Services business.
In 2005, Mr. Johnson served as chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association and was a long-standing member of the board of the Aviation Safety Alliance.
Mr. Johnson is a member of the board of directors and trustees of Arizona State University Foundation; a member of the Conquistadores Del Cielo, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Greater Phoenix Leadership, the Partnership for a Drug Free Arizona Board and the Valley of the Sun United Way Foundation Board. He is also a member of four corporate boards: Spirit Airlines, Roper Industries, Ariba (sold to SAP in September 2012) and chairman of Spirit AeroSystems. Previously, Mr. Johnson was chairman of the Arizona Aerospace Institute board of advisors.
Mr. Johnson is also an adviser to Dragon Tech, Pivotal Partners, NFlux and Singapore Technologies. In 2012, he became the adviser CEO of a new start-up company to introduce to businesses a new energy saving smart box. In early 2012, he published a book "Developing Global Leaders."
Mark Ronald
Mr. Mark Ronald is a management consultant specializing in strategic issues, organizational alignment and executive leadership development. Mr. Ronald is a senior advisor to Veritas Capital and to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He serves on the board of directors of ATK (Alliant Techsystems Inc.), Cobham plc, Aeroflex Holdings Inc and Finmeccanica North America. He is vice chairman of the U.S. Department of Defense Business Board.
In December 2006, Mr. Ronald retired from BAE Systems, where he held the positions of COO and member of the board of directors of BAE Systems plc, a $25 billion global aerospace and defense company; and president and CEO of BAE Systems Inc., the company’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary. He was responsible for building a business that grew to more than $10 billion in revenue with 45,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel and South Africa.
Prior to joining BAE Systems, Mr. Ronald was president of AEL Industries in Lansdale, Pa. He previously spent 10 years with Litton Industries, Amecon Division, rising to the position of vice president, Program Management.
Mr. Ronald holds the Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), awarded in recognition of the services he has rendered to furthering closer transatlantic cooperation between the U.S. and U.K. defense industries. He was honored by the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation with the Semper Fidelis Award for his efforts in support of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces and their families. He was awarded the Curtis Sword Award by Aviation Week and Space Technology in recognition of his leadership in the aerospace industry.
Mr. Ronald is a graduate of Bucknell University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. He received his Master of Science in electrical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York and currently serves on its board of trustees. He has received the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from both institutions.
David Tolley
Mr. David Tolley has 20 years of professional experience. He was most recently a senior advisor of The Blackstone Group, working with the private equity and advisory groups. He was with Blackstone’s Private Equity Group from 2000 to 2011, and was a senior managing director and a member of the Private Equity Group’s investment committee beginning in 2006.
He was a director of Montecito Broadcasting, the chairman of the board of directors of NewSkies Satellites, and a director of Freedom Communications and Centennial Communications. Mr. Tolley is currently a director of Cumulus Media, Inc.
Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Tolley held a series of positions of increasing responsibility at Morgan Stanley from 1990 to 1993 and 1995 to 2000. While at Morgan Stanley, he executed and sourced financing and advisory assignments for a broad array of public and private companies, executing more than 50 transactions in excess of $28 billion of total value.
Mr. Tolley holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and economics from the University of Michigan (1989) and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business (1995).
Contact the Board:
You may write or e-mail the Beech Holdings, LLC Directors. Contact details are:
Beech Holdings, LLC Directors
Beechcraft Corporation
10511 E. Central
Wichita
Kansas 67206
Board@Beechcraft.com