Our Executive Team
Synaptics is dedicated to fostering creativity and excellence throughout our global organization. Staying on the cutting edge of human interface technology for more than two decades requires a talented and focused team dedicated toward driving ongoing innovation. Our executive team combines technological expertise with deep knowledge of the global marketplace and a clear vision of the future. They focus our organization to continue to push human interface technology to new heights of creativity and innovation.
Tom Tiernan
President and CEO
Thomas J. Tiernan has served as the President and CEO of Synaptics since July 2009. He previously served as the Chief Operating Officer beginning July 2008; Executive Vice President and General Manager from July 2007 until July 2008; and as Senior Vice President of our company from March 2006 until July 2007. Prior to joining Synaptics, Mr. Tiernan served as Vice President and General Manager of Symbol Technologies’ Mobile Computing Division. From 1985 to 2004, Mr. Tiernan held various management and executive positions at Hewlett-Packard, including running the Network Storage business in the Americas, the Enterprise Systems business in Asia Pacific, and the PC business in Japan. Mr. Tiernan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from California State Polytechnic University and a Masters of Science in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University.
Kathleen Bayless
Senior Vice President, CFO, Secretary, and Treasurer
Kathleen Bayless joined Synaptics in March 2009 as Senior Vice President. She succeeded Russ Knittel as Synaptics’ Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, and Treasurer at the completion of the fiscal 2009 reporting cycle in June. Ms. Bayless spent thirteen years at Komag, a leading supplier of thin-film disks, where she served most recently as Executive Vice President, Secretary, and Chief Financial Officer. During her tenure at Komag, she helped to successfully manage the company, build its extensive international operations in Asia and grow its revenue to more than $1 billion. Prior to Komag, Ms. Bayless had a distinguished career at Ernst & Young. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University Fresno and is a CPA.
Shawn Day, Ph.D.
Vice President and Chief Technical Officer
Shawn P. Day, Ph.D. has been the Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Synaptics since July 2007. He served as the Vice President of Research and Development of our company from June 1998 through July 2007; as the Director of Software Development of our company from November 1996 until May 1998; and as principal software engineer of our company from August 1995 until October 1996. Mr. Day holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Doctorate, both in electrical engineering, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
James Harrington
Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources
James B. Harrington has served as Vice President of Global Human Resources of our company since July 2005. He was Vice President of Human Resources for BroadVision from 2000 to 2005. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Harrington provided Human Resource consulting and leadership to emerging companies in the technology sector. Previously, Mr. Harrington held leadership roles with Norand, Panda Management, Capitol Records, Syncor International, Allied/Signal and Rockwell International. Mr. Harrington holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Mt. Mercy College and a Masters of Business Administration from Pepperdine University.
Russ Knittel
Executive Vice President, Handheld Division
Russell J. Knittel has been Executive Vice President of our company since July 2007 and is currently acting as the General Manager of our Handheld Division since July 2010. Upon retiring from management, Mr. Knittel will be joining our Board of Directors. Mr. Knittel served as our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, Secretary, and Treasurer of our company from November 2001 until September 2009. Mr. Knittel served as Senior Vice President of our company from November 2001 until July 2007. He served as the Vice President of Administration and Finance, Chief Financial Officer, and Secretary of our company from April 2000 through October 2001. Mr. Knittel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from California State University at Fullerton and a Masters of Business Administration from San Jose State University.
Dave Long
Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales
David B. Long has been the Senior Vice President of World Wide Sales of our company since July 2010. Prior to joining our company in 2008, Mr. Long served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Consumer Products at LSI Logic Corporation where he directed the management of sales and customer support for standard and custom silicon solutions. From 2003 to 2006, he served as the Vice President of Asia Pacific Sales focused on the Consumer and Storage product segments. He was the Director of North American-West Sales for LSI Operations from 2002 to 2003. Mr. Long also managed LSI's worldwide account with Cisco Systems from 1998 until 2002, directing an extended team of sales, engineering, marketing, operations, and customer service representatives. Mr. Long received a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration/Marketing Management from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in 1985.
Ruth Lutes
Senior Vice President of Customer Care and Quality
Ruth Lutes is the Senior Vice President of Customer Care and Quality for Synaptics beginning July 2010. Prior to joining our company in 2007, Ms. Lutes served as Director of Quality for Hewlett Packard's Workstation business for five years followed by four years as Director of Total Customer Experience for HP's Storage business. From 1982 to 1997, Ms. Lutes held a number of technical positions in Hewlett Packard including manager of R&D Program Management. Ms. Lutes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Colorado.
Joe Montalbo
Senior Vice President of System Silicon Division
Joe Montalbo joined Synaptics in January 2008 and serves as the Senior Vice President of the System Silicon Division. From April 2005 until November 2007, Mr. Montalbo served as President, CEO and board member of Pixim, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company marketing image sensing products into the security market. From June 1978 until April 2005, Mr. Montalbo was at National Semiconductor Corp., serving in various roles in the ASIC, design automation, analog, displays and microcontroller groups. His last role there was as Vice President and General Manager of National's Custom Solutions Group, where he also served on the board of directors of Validity Sensors, Inc. Mr. Montalbo holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from The Cooper Union in New York.
Stanley Swearingen
Senior Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Development
Stanley Swearingen joined Synaptics in July 2010 and serves as Senior Vice President of Strategic Technology and Corporate Development. Prior to joining Synaptics, Mr. Swearingen served as a member of the Office of the President at MiniCircuits from March to October 2009 where he was responsible for strategy and corporate development. From August 2004 to November 2008, Swearingen was the Vice President & General Manager of Linear Product business unit at Skyworks Solutions, Inc., which designs, manufactures, sells, and supports a diverse portfolio of RF products and licensing of Intellectual Property. Mr. Swearingen was Vice President and General Manager of Agere Systems Computing Connectivity division, where he was responsible for the design and manufacturing of wired and wireless connectivity solutions from November 2000 to August 2004. From July 1999 to November 2000, Mr. Swearingen served as CEO of Quantex Microsystems, a direct provider of personal computers, servers, and Internet infrastructure products. He has also held senior management positions at National Semiconductor, Cyrix, and Digital Equipment Corp.
Mark Vena
Senior Vice President and General Manager, PC Division
Mark Vena has been the Senior Vice President and General Manager of PC Synaptics Division since July 2010. As an industry veteran with more than 20 years experience in the PC industry, Mr. Vena is a visionary on where the industry is going and how the power of capacitive touch is going to change how consumers interact with their intelligent devices. Before joining Synaptics in April 2007, Mr. Vena was the VP of Worldwide Marketing at Alienware. Prior to Alienware, Mr. Vena held a number of business and product marketing leadership positions at Dell, Compaq, Epson and IBM. Mr. Vena graduated Cum Laude from Boston College in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.
Alex Wong
Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations
Alex Wong has been the Vice President of World Wide Operations of our company since September 2006. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Wong served our company as Managing Director of Hong Kong and Director of Operations. Prior to joining Synaptics, Mr. Wong held various management positions with National Semiconductor, including General Manager for National Joint Ventures in China and Hong Kong as well as the Director of Corporate Business Development. Mr. Wong holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from California State University at Northridge and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of East Asia, Macau.