Management - A World-Class Team

Sherwin I. Seligsohn is the founder of the Company and serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Seligsohn was the founder and served as the Chairman of the Board of InterDigital Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC), formerly International Mobile Machines Corporation, from August 1972 to June 1990. From June 1990 to October 1991, he was the Chairman Emeritus of that corporation. Mr. Seligsohn is also the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of (i) Universal Display Corporation a public company (NASDAQ: PANL); (ii) International Multi-Media Corporation, an Information Science and Technology Venture Group; (iii) Wireless Unified Network Systems Corporation, a development stage company and former wholly-owned, subsidiary of International Multi-Media Corporation;, and (iv) American Biomimetics Corporation, a new materials sciences and technology venture group.


Dean L. Ledger has served as a director and senior executive of the Company since its inception. Mr. Ledger has significant experience in capital formation and business building. Mr. Ledger is also Executive Vice President-Corporate Development of Universal Display Corporation. From July 1994 to January 2001, Mr. Ledger served as a member of the Board of Directors of Universal Display Corporation. From December 2001 to July 2003, Mr. Ledger served as a member of the Board of Directors of North American Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NATK). Mr. Ledger served as a consultant to InterDigital Communications, Inc. from October 1989 to April 1991. From May 1991 until October 1992, Mr. Ledger was a consultant to the IntelCom Group. Prior to October 1989, Mr. Ledger spent 12 years as a financial consultant with E.F. Hutton, Shearson Lehman Brothers and Paine Webber. He is a graduate of Colorado College (B.A., Business Administration, 1972).


Aaron L. Wadell has served as a Director of the Company since October 2003. From November 2002 through October 2003, Mr. Wadell served as a management consultant with GPEC. Mr. Wadell was previously a Principal with the Philadelphia-based investment and advisory firm, Katalyst where he served in various executive management roles with Katalyst clients and portfolio companies in the energy, digital media and broadcast industries. From 1987 - 1998, Mr. Wadell held progressively more responsible general management and brand marketing executive positions with corporations including Procter & Gamble, Campbell Soup and VWR Scientific Products, Inc. Mr. Wadell is a graduate of the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University (M.B.A., 1987) and Cornell University's College of Engineering (B.S.E.E., 1983). He is an advisor for The Friends of Trisomy 21 Center a charitable organization raising funds for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.


Amy B. Kornafel was appointed Chief Financial Officer in March 2005. From 2003 through 2005, Ms. Kornafel served as the Company's Controller. Previously Ms. Kornafel worked as a Consultant and Senior Financial Statement Assurance Auditor for Arthur Andersen LLP. From 1995 to 1997, Ms. Kornafel served as a tax accountant for Alloy, Silverstein, Shapiro, Adams, Mulford and Company. Ms. Kornafel's experience includes extensive financial, accounting and audit experience with software, hardware, manufacturing, venture capital, bio-tech, development stage and retail enterprises. Ms. Kornafel is a graduate of Rutgers University (B.S., Accounting, 1995).


In January 2011, Robert J. Fasnacht was appointed General Counsel of Global Photonic Energy Corporation. Before joining the Company, he was engaged in a private legal practice, emphasizing both corporate transactions and complex civil litigation for some of the nation’s largest companies and wealthiest individuals. He served for six years as General Counsel and Board Member for a U.S.-based privately held restaurant franchisor. He is admitted to practice in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, along with several state and federal courts, including the U.S. Tax Court. Mr. Fasnacht received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (Professional 1983) from the University of Idaho. In 1985, he received a Juris Doctor from the University of Idaho, where he was selected to represent the university in appellate competition as a member of its National Moot Court Team. He was also selected to the two-member team that represented the law school in the national American Bar Association’s Client Counseling Competition. Mr. Fasnacht began his legal career by serving as a judicial law clerk.

Joey S. Stone was appointed Senior Vice President - Corporate Development in September 2010. He previously was a Senior Vice President at Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm. He also was a financial consultant at PaineWebber and J.C. Bradford & Co. He has been in the financial services business for 22 years. Mr. Stone is a graduate of Louisiana State University (B.S., Business, 1987).

Phil Allen is a proven entrepreneur and senior executive in the marketing communications field, with considerable experience in all aspects of marketing communications, investor and media relations and business development for public and private companies. He is a founder of two public companies, including an IPO with Goldman Sachs, and has been directly responsible for increasing the private and public shareholder values of these companies and others where he was part of the senior management team. He also develops successful brand and marketing programs for companies as a senior advisor to management, as well as builds brand awareness through targeted media and public relations programs. He is a graduate of Indiana University (B.S., English, 1971 and M.A., Mass Communications, 1976).


Professor Stephen R. Forrest has been working with Global Photonic Energy Corporation since 1998 under the Company's Research Program with Princeton University, the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan. Professor Forrest is one of the Company's Principal Research Scientists.

Professor Forrest, in conjunction with Professor Mark E. Thompson, was instrumental in the discovery of phosphorescent materials central to the highly efficient OLED technology marketed by Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: PANL). In 2006, he rejoined Michigan as Vice President for Research and as the William Gould Dow Collegiate Professor in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics. Also in 2006, Professors Forrest and Thompson were the co-recipients of the Jan Rajchman Prize from the Society for Information Display for invention of phosphorescent organic light-emitting displays ("OLEDs"). In 2001, he was awarded the IEEE/LEOS William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award for advances made on photodetectors for optical communications systems. From 1997-2001, Professor Forrest served as the Chair of Princeton's Electrical Engineering Department. Professor Forrest has served as director of the National Center for Integrated Photonic Technology and as Director of Princeton's Center for Photonic and Optoelectronic Materials (POEM). In 1999, Professor Forrest received the Materials Research Society Medal for work on organic thin films. In 1998, Professor Forrest was co-recipient of the IPO National Distinguished Inventor Award as well as the Thomas Alva Edison Award for innovations in organic LEDs. 


A Fellow of the IEEE and Optical Society of America and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, he received the IEEE/LEOS Distinguished Lecturer Award in 1996-97. Professor Forrest began his career at Princeton in 1992 as the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering. From 1985 to 1992, Professor Forrest worked at USC in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Materials Science on optoelectronic integrated circuits and organic semiconductors. From 1979 to 1985, Professor Forrest worked at Bell Labs investigating photodetectors for optical communications. Professor Forrest has authored approximately 340 papers in refereed journals, holds 110 patents and has multiple patent applications pending.


Professor Forrest is a graduate of the University of Michigan (MSc Physics, 1974 and PhD Physics, 1979) and the University of California Berkley (B. A. Physics, 1972).

Weblog of the U-M Vice President for Research

Professor Mark E. Thompson has been working with Global Photonic Energy Corporation since 1994 under the Company's Research Program with Princeton University, and the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan. Professor Thompson is one of the Company's Principal Research Scientists.

Professor Thompson, in conjunction with Professor Stephen R. Forrest, was instrumental in the discovery of phosphorescent materials central to the highly efficient OLED technology marketed by Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: PANL). In 2006, Professors Forrest and Thompson were the co-recipients of the Jan Rajchman Prize from the Society for Information Display for invention of phosphorescent OLEDs. In 1998 Professor Thompson was co-recipient of The Intellectual Property Owners Association National Distinguished Inventor Award as well as the Thomas Alva Edison Award for innovations in organic LEDs.

Professor Thompson joined The University of Southern California in 1995. From 1987 to 1995 Professor Thompson worked at Princeton University. From 1985 to 1987 Professor Thompson worked at Oxford University and was a S.E.R.C. Research Fellow. From 1983 to 1985, Professor Thompson worked at E.I. duPont deNemours & Company as a visiting Scientist. Professor Thompson has authored ~167 papers in refereed journals, holds 48 patents and has multiple patent applications pending. Professor Thompson is a graduate of the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D. Inorganic Chemistry, 1985) and the University of California Berkley (B.S. Chemistry with honors, 1980).

USC Viterbi School of Engineering