Board of Directors
Daktronics Board of Directors currently consists of seven persons, divided into three classes serving staggered three-year terms. Current committees include Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance.
Reece Kurtenbach is President and CEO at Daktronics and serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors. Reece sets the course for the company, strategizing how to generate industry leading value to our customers, positively engage our employees, develop strategic partnerships with our suppliers, generate an attractive return for our shareholders, and manage corporate governance and compliance.
As a lifelong learner, he draws on a wealth of knowledge from his experiences across Daktronics to engage the management team to create a compelling vision of the future and to guide the company, through sometimes turbulent periods, towards this vision.
Before he took on his current role, Reece was Daktronics Executive Vice President for Live Events and International, which included professional and collegiate sports venues as well as international markets. He also led engineering for video products and contributed to corporate oversight for product strategies and software platform development. Previously, Reece managed the design group that developed Daktronics first full-color LED video display product – the technology that later launched the company into its current position as a world leader in large screen video displays.
Reece started his Daktronics career in 1982 as a college student employee, working in manufacturing and customer service. After graduation, he left Daktronics to work as an Analog Test Engineer for Unisys and then as a Hardware Engineer at RoMar, Ltd. He returned to Daktronics in 1991.
An advocate for children of all ages, Reece has served on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of the Northern Plains and continues to visit the local Club to work with youth. He serves on the Catholic Foundation Board for the East River Diocese of South Dakota, and he volunteers at his local church. He also sits on the boards of two burgeoning companies – Etulipa and X Display Company.
He is a lifelong learner who enjoys exploring the world, solving complex puzzles, and reading books and articles to expand his perspective. He values his time outdoors, hiking and sailing, as well as exploring new foods and recipes.
Reece graduated from South Dakota State University with a BS in electrical engineering with minors in math and computer science.
John P. Friel (70) has been a Director of the Company since September 2015 and has served on the Audit Committee since September 2015 and on the Compensation Committee of the Board since October 2016. Mr. Friel was named Compensation Committee Chair on September 1, 2020. Mr. Friel served for 30 years in various capacities at MEDRAD, Inc., a global company that designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports medical devices. MEDRAD is an affiliate of Bayer, AG. He joined MEDRAD in the accounting area and earned a promotion to Treasurer and Vice President of Corporate Planning in 1986 and Vice President of Business Development in 1987. He served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing from 1989 to 1995, Senior Vice President and General Manager from 1995 to 1998, and President and Chief Executive Officer from 1998 to 2010. MEDRAD received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice during his tenure, once in 2004 and again in 2010. Mr. Friel retired as Chief Executive Officer of Vascor, Inc. in December 2019, and he has served as a member of its board of directors since June 2016. Vascor is a pre-clinical medical device development company. He also is currently a Director at Preservation Technologies L.P. and a Director at American Productivity and Quality Center ("APQC"). Mr. Friel is the Principal and Founder of Five Radicals, which focuses on Baldrige Performance Excellence, strategic planning, general business consulting to entrepreneurial medical device companies, and private equity business development opportunity search efforts. Mr. Friel is a director of Magvation, Inc., a medical device development company. Mr. Friel is a Senior Partner of the Mikan Group, a general management consulting company. He holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Friel brings to the Board extensive global general management knowledge and practice. He has strong experience in building and growing businesses, especially in technical product development and global expansions, which align with many of the Company's initiatives and strategies.
Kevin P. McDermott (68) has been a Director of the Company since June 2015 and has served on the Audit Committee of the Board (the "Audit Committee") as a member from August 2015 through September 2016 and as Chairperson of the Audit Committee since October 2016. Mr. McDermott retired from an international accounting firm, KPMG LLP, in the fall of 2013 after being with the firm for 33 years in various capacities, including audit engagement partner, SEC reviewing partner, professional practice partner, and in the firm’s Office of General Counsel. In addition to fulfilling professional obligations related to audits of financial statements and internal control over financial reporting, he assisted clients with financial and operational issues, acquisition due diligence, personnel performance, and corporate governance. In his capacity as SEC reviewing partner, Mr. McDermott performed concurring partner reviews of audits of financial statements and internal control over financial reporting for publicly-held audit clients. While in the Office of General Counsel, he provided assistance on a privileged basis to the firm and outside counsel in various SEC and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board investigations and third-party litigation matters. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from South Dakota State University. Mr. McDermott was appointed to the board of directors of Genesco Inc. (NYSE-GCO) effective February 1, 2016 and currently serves on its Audit Committee. Genesco is a publicly-traded retailer and wholesaler of branded footwear, apparel and accessories. From March 2019 through March 2020, Mr. McDermott served as Chief Audit Executive for Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc., a publicly-held bank holding company located in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. McDermott brings significant expertise in the area of financial and internal control over financial reporting by publicly-traded companies. This expertise aligns with our responsibility and commitment to provide oversight for our shareholders relating to the integrity of our financial statements and related filings.
Dr. José-Marie Griffiths (70) has been a Director of the Company since September 2020. She is president of Dakota State University, a public university, in Madison, South Dakota and has served in such capacity since July 2015. President Griffiths has spent her career in research, teaching, public service, corporate leadership, economic development, and higher education administration. She has served in presidential appointments to the National Science Board, the U.S. President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee, and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. In 2018, she was appointed as a member of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for 2019. She has led projects for over 28 U.S. federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Energy, and various intelligence and military agencies, and over 20 major corporations, such as AT&T Bell Laboratories and IBM, in over 35 countries, and she has worked with seven major international organizations, including NATO and the United Nations. Dr. Griffiths has received over 20 significant awards in science, technology, teaching and the advancement of women in these fields. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics and Information Science from the University College London ("UCL"). She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Computer Science and Statistics and was recently awarded a Doctor of Science honoris causa from UCL. Dr. Griffiths brings to the Board expertise in a variety of new and emerging technologies including cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, along with significant experience with both military and civilian federal agencies.
Andrew Siegel has been a Director of the Company since 2022 and serves on the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board. On November 30, 2023, Mr. Siegel was named by the Board as the Lead Independent Director. Andrew Siegel currently manages TLI Bedrock, LLC, a private multi-strategy investment firm.
While in that role, he co-founded and served as Executive Chairman of 4Q Systems, an enterprise financial technology company which was sold to Blackline, Inc. (NASDAQ:BL) in January 2022.
He was Founding Partner of Advance Venture Partners, the investment fund of global media company Advance Publications, Inc. He joined Advance in 2010, and as Executive Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development, was responsible for growth initiatives at the holding company and its operating units including Conde Nast. He oversaw The Sports Business Journal/SBD until December 2019. Andrew joined Advance from Yahoo! Inc., where he led the digital media company’s corporate development team. He previously was an executive with General Electric and its financial arm GE Capital. He joined GE upon its $902 million acquisition of InVision Technologies (NASDAQ: INVN), where he had served as an executive officer since 2001. He began his career as a corporate lawyer at Skadden, Arps in New York City.
Andrew received a BA from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, an MS from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a JD from New York University School of Law. He serves on the boards of the Park Avenue Synagogue and the Ashley Hope Foundation as well as those of the private companies Gaming Society, Next League, Strategic Financial Solutions and Copyleaks.
