BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR BEN FRANKLIN TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA ELECTS THREE NEW MEMBERS
BFTP/SEP's three new distinguished Board members are: John C. Carrow, Senior Vice President, Unisys Corporation; John A. Loftus, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Safeguard Scientifics, Inc; and Charles M. Robins, Managing Director, Fairmount Partners.
March 22, 2007 - PHILADELPHIA, PA The Board of Directors for Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP) -- an innovative economic development organization that stimulates entrepreneurial potential to grow the region's economy -- has elected John C. Carrow, Senior Vice President, Unisys Corporation; John A. Loftus, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Safeguard Scientifics, Inc; and Charles M. Robins, Managing Director, Fairmount Partners, to serve on the Board.
~ John C. Carrow ~
John Carrow is the Senior Vice President, Strategic Client Development for Unisys Corporation. In this role he works to develop key client partnerships using his expertise in both the public and private sector. He collaborates with the Unisys Senior Executive Committee, and their leadership teams and the global sales force to achieve valued solutions which support customer's business objectives.
John Carrow joined Unisys as Chief Information Officer and Vice President, Worldwide Information Technology, in December 1996 and led the global IT activities of the company for ten years. Before joining Unisys, John Carrow served as the first Chief Information Officer for the city of Philadelphia from 1993-1997. For his work in this role, he was selected as Public Official of the Year by Governing magazine. Prior to that, he held numerous leadership positions throughout a successful 16 year career with General Electric Company.
A native of Crystal City, Missouri, John is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. John served as an Army Officer rising to the rank of Major. He is a decorated Vietnam Combat Veteran. John Carrow received a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois.
~ John A. Loftus ~
As Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Information Technology for Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., John Loftus evaluates investment opportunities and provides strategy leadership to Safeguard's partner companies. John joined Safeguard in 2001 with over twenty years of prior experience in executive management, entrepreneurship, and technology leadership. He is a serial entrepreneur who has founded, raised capital for, or served in senior management positions with companies representing all stages of growth.
Prior to joining Safeguard, John co-founded Gestalt LLC, which focuses on high-end software interoperability and simulation solutions for the Department of Defense. He also served as Sr. Vice President of Professional Services with Breakaway Solutions, where he managed all strategy and implementation consulting engagements and directed an organization of nearly 1,000 consultants in the U.S. and Europe. In addition, John was part of the senior management team that took Breakaway Solutions public in October 1999. Prior to Breakaway Solutions, he was the Senior Vice President and CTO of WPL Laboratories, which earned recognition as an INC 500 company. He also held executive positions at GE and PECO Energy. He has developed and taught graduate level courses at La Salle University and lectures at the University of Pennsylvania.
He has served on the Boards of Acsis, Alliance Consulting, Gestalt LLC, Mantas, Nextone, Avista Advantage, Pacific Title and Arts, Promodel, Portico, and WPL Laboratories. He currently serves on the board of the MAC Alliance and is past Chairman of the Computing Advisory Board of La Salle University. John holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering and has earned a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and Master of Degree in Computer Science all from Villanova University. John also possesses a Master of Science Degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.
~ Charles M. Robins ~
Mr. Robins focuses on the software, telecommunications and other technology-related sectors, serving emerging growth companies with strategic and financial advisory, mergers and acquisitions, and private placement services. As Fairmount's senior technology expert, Charles has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, executive, strategic consultant and investment banker. Previously, he was Managing Director, co-head of Corporate Finance and led the software and telecommunications practices in the U.S. for Investec Inc., an international public diversified financial services company. Charles was also a member of Investec's commitment committee and management committee. Charles was a principal with Investec's predecessor firm, PMG Capital/Pennsylvania Merchant Group where he was head of Technology Research and the Technology Investment Banking practice.
Prior to becoming an investment banker, Charles was an executive at Safeguard Scientifics, a high-technology investment firm, and was co-founder of Rabbit Software Corporation, a publicly traded pioneer in developing communications products for enterprise networks. In addition, he was president of Atlantix Corporation, a Perot Investment Group company, and managed advanced technology development for Shared Medical Systems and SEI Corporation. Charles was also co-founder of Multiple Funding Pension Inc., a developer of financial analysis software. Charles is a member of the board of directors of the Eastern Technology Council (ETC), is lead judge of the ETC's annual Enterprise Awards and has served as co-chair of the Innovation Philadelphia HotTeam for Information Technology.
Charles was a Ph.D. research fellow at New York University where he also earned master's degrees in computer science and mathematics. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brooklyn College and is an honorary member of Sigma Xi in sciences and Pi Mu Epsilon in mathematics. Mr. Robins has also authored a number of articles as well as published a book on computer software.
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Since 1982, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania has served as a catalyst for stimulating entrepreneurial potential by developing systems to accelerate the transition of scientific discovery and technology development to commercialization. Part of a statewide network in Pennsylvania, BFTP/SEP provides entrepreneurs and established businesses the capital, knowledge and networks they need to compete in the global marketplace. BFTP/SEP has provided more than $130 million to over 1,600 regional enterprises. BFTP/SEP is a founding partner of the Nanotechnology Institute (NTI) and the Mid-Atlantic Nanotechnology Alliance (MANA®), and is funded by Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development.
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