Paul M. Russo

Russo currently serves as Founder & Chairman of the Board of GEO Semiconductor. Previously he served as Co-Chairman and CEO since founding GEO Semiconductor in 2009. He also serves as Director of FONOLO (www.fonolo.com) and SBG Labs (www.sbglabs.com), and an Advisor to SiOnyx – the “Black Silicon” Company (www.sionyx.com). Prior to founding GEO Semi, Dr. Russo Founded Silicon Optix in 2000, a privately held fabless semiconductor company, serving as Chairman & CEO through 2008. GEO acquired certain assets from Silicon Optix in 2009. Prior to Silicon Optix, Dr. Russo was the founder, Chairman and CEO of Genesis Microchip (acquired by ST Micro in 2007) through 2000, including its successful NASDAQ IPO in 1998, and on its board until 2001. Prior to founding Genesis, he was General Manager of GE’s Microelectronics Center, Senior Manager in GE’s Industrial Electronics Group and Head, Microsystems Research at RCA’s David Sarnoff Research Center. Dr. Russo received his B. Eng. from McGill University and his MSc and PhD in EECS from UC Berkeley. He holds six U.S. patents, is a Fellow of the IEEE and has received numerous RCA and industry awards, including the IEEE Centennial Medal and the 2006 Tech Pioneer Award from the World Economic Forum. He served as an outside director of ATI Technologies from 2001 through its acquisition by AMD in late 2006, as well as numerous private venture funded start-ups acquired by public entities (e.g., RocketChips – acquired by Xilinx, Atmos – acquired by MoSys). Dr. Russo is a member of the Global Semiconductor Association (GSA) Emerging Company CEO Council and participates in its EDA sub-committee.