Board of Directors

The business culture and practices of Aviat Networks are built on a strong set of values that govern our relationships with customers, partners, employees, shareholders, suppliers and the communities in which we operate. These values include integrity in all business dealings, an exceptional customer focus and a dedication to innovation, consistent execution and teamwork in everything we do.

"Our board of directors is guided by these same principles. We are proud that we have an extremely well qualified, independent board of directors dedicated to protecting the interests of all our shareholders through strong governance and dedication to driving long-term value."

John Mutch
Chairman of the Board of Directors

John Mutch was appointed Chairman of the Board in February 2015 and has served as a director since January 2015. Mr. Mutch is the founder and managing partner of MV Advisors LLC, a strategic block investment firm which provides focused investment and strategic guidance to small and mid-cap technology companies. From October 2008 to January 2014, Mr. Mutch served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of BeyondTrust Software. Prior to founding MV Advisors, in March 2003, Mr. Mutch was appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy court to the Board of Directors of Peregrine Systems. He assisted that company in a bankruptcy work-out proceeding and was named President and Chief Executive Officer in July 2003. Peregrine Systems was sold to HP in December 2005. Previous to running Peregrine Systems, Mr. Mutch served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director of HNC Software, an enterprise analytics software provider. HNC Software was sold to FICO in August 2002. Before HNC Software, Mr. Mutch spent seven years at Microsoft Corporation in a variety of executive sales and marketing positions. Mr. Mutch previously served on the boards of Steel Excel, Inc., Rhythym One, Maxwell Technologies, Inc., Phoenix Technology, Edgar Online, Aspyra, Overland Storage and Brio Software. He has served as a director at Agilysys, Inc., a provider of information technology solutions since March 2009. Mr. Mutch holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Cornell University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

Bryan Ingram has 35 years of experience in technology, most recently serving as senior vice president and general manager of Broadcom's Wireless Semiconductor Division. Prior to that position, he held other senior executive roles at Broadcom and its predecessor, Avago Technologies Limited. He also held executive positions at the predecessor to Avago within Agilent Technologies and various management positions at Hewlett Packard and Westinghouse. Mr. Ingram holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

In May 2021 Ms. Klein was appointed as a director of Aviat Networks. In 2021 she was also elected a director of Rockley Photonics, a chipset developer and module supplier, where she chairs the Nominating and Governance committee and serves on Compensation. Since 2019 she has been a director of Intevac (NASDAQ:IVAC), a manufacturer of vacuum deposition systems, where she serves on the Compensation and the Nominating and Governance Committees. In 2017 she was elected a director of Photon Control (TSX:PHO), a provider of optical sensors and systems to the semiconductor industry, where she served on Audit and chaired the M&A Committee until the company’s acquisition in July 2021. She is also a director of Gridtential Energy, a private energy storage company. From 2005 until 2010 Ms. Klein served as Senior Director of Applied Ventures LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, where she recommended and managed investments in energy storage and solar energy, and represented Applied Materials on the boards of energy technology companies. Ms. Klein co-founded Boxer Cross Inc., a semiconductor equipment manufacturer, and served as CEO and Director from 1997 until its acquisition by Applied Materials in 2003. She previously co-founded and led High Yield Technology, a semiconductor metrology company, from 1986 until its acquisition by Pacific Scientific in 1996. Ms. Klein earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS degree from the University of Illinois.

Laxmi Akkaraju is currently Chief Delivery Officer for Cognite, a global leader in industrial software, having previously served in Senior Vice President roles for Strategy and Customer Services. She is also a Board Member for the Moller Mobility Group, and sits on the Advisory Boards for Digital Norway and BI Norwegian Business School. Prior to Cognite, Ms Akkaraju was Chief Strategy Officer from 2017 to 2020 for the GSM Association (GSMA), a non-profit industry organization that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide, and held senior positions with EVRY, Mu Dynamics (now Spirent) and Holte Consulting. Ms Akkaraju holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from University of New Mexico and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Bruce Taten was appointed to the Aviat Networks Board of Directors in March, 2022. Mr. Taten served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Cooper Industries, plc from 2008 until its merger with Eaton Corporation in October 2012. Previously, Mr. Taten was Vice President and General Counsel at Nabors Industries from 2003 until 2008 and earlier practiced law with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. Before attending law school, he practiced as a C.P.A. with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co., which is now KPMG, in New York. Mr. Taten currently is a practicing attorney and private investor. He is admitted to practice law in the states of Texas and New York. Mr. Taten earned his FSA Credential from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) in 2020. Mr. Taten holds a B.S. and Masters degree from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University. Mr. Taten has served on board of directors of Jeld-Wen Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: JELD), since 2014 and currently serves as chair of the compensation committee and on the governance and nominating committee. Mr. Taten brings experience in environmental, social and governance matters, mergers and acquisitions, tax, finance and securities offerings and public company compliance to the Aviat Board.

As Aviat’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Smith leads the advancement of the Company’s financial and operational performance, while strategically navigating through a rapidly evolving industry.

Mr. Smith has more than 25 years of leadership experience in business management and a proven track record of creating value for companies. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, US Windows and Canada for Jeld-Wen, where he had full profit and loss responsibility for Jeld-Wen’s $1B+ windows business, implementing lean manufacturing principles and strategic development programs to deliver growth and improved profitability. Prior to Jeld-Wen, he served as President of Polypore International’s Transportation and Industrial segment and oversaw transformative initiatives that helped prepare the former public company for sale to the Asahi Kasei Group. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Voltaix Inc., until its sale to Air Liquide.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Smith held various executive leadership positions at Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, including Cooper Industries, Dover Knowles Electronics and Honeywell Specialty Materials. In these roles, his responsibilities ran the gamut of operations, sales and marketing, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Smith also served on the board of Soleras Advanced Coatings from 2015 to 2018. He has both a Bachelor of Science degree in Material (Ceramics) Engineering and PhD in Material Science and Engineering from Rutgers University, and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University.

Asako Aoyama has been the Corporate Senior Vice President of NEC Corporation since April 2023, and is responsible for managing financial planning and analysis teams of the NEC group. Prior to that, Ms. Aoyama served as Vice President, CFO of Global Business Unit of NEC Corporation, managing a global finance team encompassing controllership and in financial planning and analysis in 30 countries for NEC’s Global Business Unit. Ms. Aoyama was also an Executive Officer with Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan from May 2017 until November 2019, where she oversaw strategic development, mergers and acquisitions, and competitive analysis teams. From June 2018 until June 2024, Ms. Aoyama was a non-executive director of Taiyo Holdings Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of chemical products for electronic components. She has served as Director for NetCracker Technology Corporation since April 2021. Ms. Aoyama holds a Bachelor of Arts from International Christian University and an MBA from The Ohio State University.