Seven Re-Elected To Three-Year Terms To Expire In 2017

The voting Members of the NBAA re-elected seven directors for three-year terms expiring in 2017 during its 67th Annual Meeting held this week during NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA2014).

Elizabeth Dornak is the manager, flight operations for DuPont Aviation. In addition to serving on the NBAA Board of Directors, she has experience with NBAA's Operations Committee and was a member of the Certified Aviation Manager Governing Board. With extensive international experience, she was selected to serve as the NBAA Board's representative to the International Business Aviation Council. Dornak is type rated in Gulfstream, Hawker and Citation aircraft and holds an ATP certificate with over 8,000 hours of flight time. She is a graduate of Purdue University and has completed the Aviation Safety Certificate Program at the University of Southern California. Dornak joined the board in 2007 and currently serves on the Audit Committee.

Ronald Duncan is one of the founders of General Communication, Inc. (GCI), Alaska's largest telecommunications provider, and has been president and CEO since 1989. Prior to starting GCI, Duncan founded and was president of an Alaska-based cable television company. He received a Bachelor's degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He holds a commercial pilot’s license with SEL&S and MEL ratings and is type rated in CE-560, IA-1125, G-100 and CL604 aircraft. In 25 years of flying, Duncan has accumulated 7,000 hours, more than half of which are in turbojets. Duncan joined the board in 2005 and currently serves as chairman.

Monte J.M. Koch is vice chairman and co-founder of Auction.com, the largest online marketplace for residential and commercial real estate. Koch joined Auction.com after a long career in investment banking, most recently at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., where he served as that firm's global head of real estate investment banking. He also is the founder of Falconshare LLC, an owner and operator of jet aircraft and a Business Member of NBAA. As the manager of Falconshare LLC, Koch is an experienced owner, operator and avid pilot of piston, twin turboprop and jet aircraft, as well as helicopters. He holds an ATP license and is type rated in the Falcon 10. Koch graduated from The College of William & Mary with a BBA in management. Koch joined the board in 2005 and currently serves on the Compensation, Investment & Succession Committee.

Lloyd "Fig" Newton retired in 2000 from the United States Air Force as a four-star general. Serving for more than three decades, Newton flew 269 combat missions in Vietnam, flew with the U.S. Air Force Demonstration Team “The Thunderbirds,” served as a congressional liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives for the Air Force and led the Air Education and Training Command, which consisted of 13 bases, 43,000 active duty personnel and 14,000 civilians. After leaving the Air Force, Newton worked at Pratt & Whitney as vice president of international military programs and business development until 2006. In addition to the Sonoco Products Company, Newton serves on the boards of Torchmark Corporation and the National Air and Space Museum. He joined the NBAA board in 2010 and currently serves on the Compensation, Investment & Succession Committee.

Jim Schwertner is president and CEO of Schwertner Farms, Inc. and was appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2009 to serve on the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System. He holds an ATP, is type rated on the Cessna Citation CE-525S and holds a single-engine sea rating. Schwertner is also chairman of the board of Schwertner State Bank and a partner in the Lockhart Livestock Auction and the Mid Tex Livestock Auction in Navasota, TX. He has extensive non-profit governance experience, having served on the boards of organizations such as Texans for General Aviation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Capitol Area Diabetes Association. He has also been appointed to represent industry on groups including the Texas Aviation Advisory Board and the National Beef Board. Schwertner joined the NBAA board in 2013 and currently serves on the Nominating Committee.

Richard Shine, a past chairman of the NBAA Board of Directors, is the CEO and chief pilot of Manitoba Corporation, a metal recycling company founded by Shine’s grandfather in 1916. The company has been a Member of NBAA since 1995, and Shine has said that his business would not exist today were it not for his airplane, a Mitsubishi MU-2. He flew for six years on active duty with the U.S. Air Force, reaching the rank of colonel and flying for the local reserve unit in Niagara Falls. He joined the family business in 1970. Shine joined the NBAA board in 2008 and currently serves on the Compensation, Investment & Succession Committee.

John White has led Valero Energy Corporation's flight department since 2004 and currently serves as vice president, aviation. With more than four decades of business aviation experience, White holds an ATP, nine type ratings, an A&P license and a commercial glider license. He has accumulated more than 17,000 flight hours. He spent more than 25 years with Union Pacific Resources, progressing from pilot mechanic to aviation director. In addition to serving as the president and chairman of Texans for General Aviation, White is on the board of the Partnership for Corporate Aviation Training and a member of the Texas Aviation Advisory Committee. White joined the NBAA board in 2010 and currently chairs the Nominating Committee.

FMI: Review the full NBAA Board of Directors roster