Board of Directors
Rami Musallam – Chairman & CEO, Thrupoint, Inc.
Rami Musallam started Thrupoint in 1996 in response to a need in the market he recognized in his technologist role at Morgan Stanley. Rami has used his customer-side experience to make Thrupoint the responsive and proactive communications technology partner that companies have relied on for the past 16 years.
Rami served as Thrupoint’s President and CEO from 1996 until 2000, when he was named Chairman and CEO. He has led Thrupoint’s transformation from a regional network integrator to a global, strategic IT consulting firm and to our position today as a leader in unified communications solutions. Prior to 1996, Mr. Musallam was Vice President of Global Intranet Communications for Morgan Stanley. Mr. Musallam serves as a Corporate Advisory Board member for Inwood House, a leader and innovator in teen pregnancy prevention, youth development, and family support.
Nick Adamo (Board Observer) – Senior Vice President, Global Service Provider Market Segment, Cisco
Nick Adamo leads Cisco’s global service provider market segment from a sales perspective and also co-chairs Cisco’s Service Provider Business Council. He plays a critical role in defining and leading Cisco’s strategy for the rapidly evolving global telecommunications market and aligning company resources to deliver business and technology solutions and architectures that enhance service providers’ overall profitability, are unique in the marketplace, and enable innovation in end-user consumption of technology.
Adamo is Cisco’s Board representative to the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and currently serves as First Vice Chairman. ATIS is a United States-based organization that is committed to rapidly developing and promoting technical and operations standards for the communications and related information technologies industry. He serves on the Board of Inwood House, a not-for-profit organization in the New York City Area dedicated to helping at-risk teens take charge of their lives and become healthy and self-reliant adults. He was recognized by Crain’s New York Business Magazine in 2001 as one of New York City’s 100 most influential IT executives.
Guy de Chazal – Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners
Guy de Chazal is a former Managing Director of Morgan Stanley and a former Managing Member of Morgan Stanley Venture Partners IV, which manages Morgan Stanley Venture Partners investment funds. Mr. de Chazal joined Morgan Stanley in 1986. He is also a director of Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. (LIOX), and the National Venture Capital Association.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. de Chazal was a Vice President of Citicorp Venture Capital from 1981 through 1985. From 1976 to 1981 he was a consultant with McKinsey & Co.
Mr. de Chazal is chairman of the Board of Directors of Fountain House—a rehabilitation and housing program for the emotionally handicapped in New York—and a member of the Board of Directors of the Squam Lakes Association in New Hampshire.
Bernard Goldstein (Board Advisor) – Software Industry Pioneer and Entrepreneur
Bernard Goldstein has served as a board of member of Apple Computer. In 1979 he co-founded Broadview International, LLC, an investment banking firm. He has served as a director of SunGard Data Systems, a computer services company. He serves as a director several privately held companies and for Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, a provider of health care and clinical support systems.
Mr. Goldstein has founded and run software and services companies, and was a prominent figure in the computer industry trade association ADAPSO where he served as President and chaired the ADAPSO Foundation.
Edward Hamburg – Former Executive Vice President of Corporate Operations, Chief Financial Officer, and Corporate Secretary of SPSS Inc.
Mr. Hamburg headed business development and mergers and acquisitions activities from 1986-1992 for SPSS Inc., a multinational computer software company that provides predictive analytical technology and services to over two hundred thousand customers in business, government and higher education.
Mr. Hamburg received a PH.D. from the department of political science at The University of Chicago in 1982 and became an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago through 1986. His areas of expertise include American political behavior and organization, statistics and research methods, and comparative Middle Eastern politics. His academic awards include a research fellowship from the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago.
Cliff Higgerson – Venture Partner at Walden International
Cliff has more than 35 years of experience in research, consulting, planning and venture investing. Combining the market insight of an analyst with a keen ability to identify blockbuster technologies early in their development, Cliff has backed some of the most successful companies in the communications industry. He focuses his investments on telecommunications with an emphasis on carrier systems and equipment.
Past investments and board seats include Astute Networks, Hatteras Networks, Kotura, Lambda OpticalSystems, Ygnition, and Xtera Communications. Prior to investments include such industry leaders as Advanced Fibre Communications (Nasdaq: AFCI); America Online; Ciena (Nasdaqa; CIEN); Digital Island (acquired by Cable & Wireless); Digital Microwave, now Stralex Networks (Nasdaq: STXN); Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB); MCI (Nasdaq: MCIP); Octel (NYSE: OTL); and Tut Systems (Nasdaq: TUTS).
Cliff was a Founding Partner of ComVentures and a General Partner with Vanguard Venture Partners. He has also served as a Managing Partner and Director of Research for Hambrecht & Quist, and as a Special Limited Partner and Director of the Communications Group for L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin.
Cliff holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BS from the University of Illinois.
Merritt Lutz – Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
Merritt M. Lutz is an Advisory Director for Morgan Stanley. He is also Chairman of MSIT Holdings. He is responsible for the oversight of Morgan Stanley’s strategic technology investments and MSIT joint ventures.
Mr. Lutz joined Morgan Stanley in 1994 as a Managing Director in charge of the Application Programming Group. He was in charge of developing and launching Morgan Stanley’s early Internet strategy, Morgan Stanley’s offsite software development joint ventures, and the firm’s Client Technology initiatives. Before joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Lutz was President of Candle Corporation (then one of the world’s largest privately-held software companies), a Managing Partner of PDi (a software industry partnering and consulting company), and a Group Vice President for Informatics General Corporation (NYSE).
Mr. Lutz is a Director of SPSS and Interlink Electronics. He is also a Director for Business Engine Software Corporation and SendMail. He is a member of the Chairman’s Committee of the Computerworld Foundation Honors Awards Program. Mr. Lutz serves on the Board of Michigan State University School of Music and is also the Chairman of American Friends of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. He is a former Director of the Information Technology Association of America and the NASD Industry Advisory Committee.
Iyad Tarazi – VP, Network Development and Engineering, Sprint
Iyad Tarazi is Vice President of Network Development and Engineering for Sprint. Iyad has been with Sprint since 1998 and he is currently the chief engineer for building and evolving the organization to a 4G infrastructure. Additionally, Iyad has a broad background in financial and capital management in addition to all aspects of engineering, planning, and design for both wire line and wireless networks.
Prior to the Sprint Nextel merger, Iyad provided leadership to Nextel’s Network Engineering department where he was responsible for all aspects of Nextel’s core network. He has also held progressive management and senior management positions with MCI.
Iyad received his BSEE from the University of Maryland and holds a Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University.
