AUVSI Announces New Executive Committee, Members of Board of Directors

May 5, 2021

Media Contact: Michael Robbins, mrobbins@auvsi.org 

For Immediate Release: May 5, 2021

AUVSI Announces New Executive Committee, Members of Board of Directors

Includes Leaders in Air, Maritime, Ground Domains

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) today announced the election of new leadership and members to its Board of Directors. The announcement was made during the virtual component of AUVSI’s annual XPONENTIAL event, the world’s largest trade show for the unmanned systems industry, which will continue with an in-person experience August 16-19 in Atlanta, GA. 

Virginia (Suzy) Young, PhD, of the University of Alabama in Huntsville was elected to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors, with Bill Irby, COO of Martin UAV, elected as Executive Vice Chair. John “JC” Coffey, Executive Director of Unmanned Systems at Cherokee Nation Technologies, was elected as Treasurer. Mark Gordon, CEO of Stratom, will continue to serve on AUVSI’s Executive Committee as Immediate Past Chair.

“I have witnessed the Association’s tremendous growth during my years of membership and Board service, and I look forward to more changes that will benefit our membership,” said Suzy Young. “During this exciting time of growth for the unmanned systems industry, I look forward to working with our Board and chapters to make the best of the coming years for our Association.”

New members elected to serve on the board are Bala Ganesh, PhD, UPS;  Dyan Gibbens, Trumbull Unmanned; Steven Gitlin, AeroVironment; Wayne Prender, Textron Systems; Jeffrey Ratcliffe, Northwest UAV; David Rottblatt, Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions; and Mathias Winter, Winter Strategic Solutions, LLC. 

Directors who will continue to serve on the board are Sean Bielat; Suzanne Murtha, AECOM; Ben Gielow, Amazon; Thomas Reynolds, Huntington Ingalls Industries; Susan Roberts, The 1182 Group, James Thomsen, Seaborne Defense; Nevin Carr, Leidos; Todd Graetz, BNSF Railway; Robert Hambrick, AutonomouStuff; Frank LoBiondo, LoBo Strategies; and Robert Sturgell, Collins Aerospace.

“I thank Mark Gordon for his leadership of the Board, especially during the challenges our Association faced during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Brian Wynne, AUVSI President and CEO. “I look forward to working with Suzy, Bill and JC during the next three years, which will be critical for our industry as businesses and society increasingly integrate unmanned systems.”

Click here to read a farewell post from Mark Gordon on the AUVSI blog.

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About AUVSI

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) — the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems and robotics — represents corporations and professionals from more than 60 countries involved in industry, government and academia. AUVSI members work in the defense, civil and commercial markets. For more information, visit AUVSI.org