Leadership

Leadership Team
Board of Directors

Charles Beck

Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Robert P. Chamness

Executive Vice President, Sustainability & Governance, Chief Legal Officer, and Secretary

Bruce Davis

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors

Heidi Dethloff

Vice President, Marketing

Cindy Marple

Vice President, Human Resources

Joel Meyer

Executive Vice President, Innovation, Specifications & Standards

Brian O’Sullivan

Vice President, Sales and Business Development

George Rieck

Vice President, Government Programs

Tony Rodriguez

Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

Scott Wilcox

Vice President, Client Services

Charles Beck - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Charles Beck is responsible for the financial strategy and goals of the company, including maintaining compliance with regulatory and securities reporting requirements. Charles also oversees the Finance, Facilities and IT functions and sales operations in Japan, as well as the company's relationship with the financial and shareholder communities.

He has been recognized with numerous awards, including the “Forty Under 40” award from the Portland Business Journal (PBJ) for outstanding Oregon executives under forty, as well as being named one of PBJ’s “CFOs of the Year” for his expertise in financial management. Before joining Digimarc, Charles was a Senior Manager at KPMG LLP, which provides audit, tax and advisory services, where he served in various management roles within in the firm’s technology practice. Charles is a CPA and holds an M.B.A. and a B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Portland.

Robert P. Chamness - Executive Vice President, Sustainability & Governance, Chief Legal Officer, and Secretary

Robert Chamness leads our recycling and sustainability initiatives. Under his leadership, the HolyGrail project selected Digimarc as the data carrier for improving plastic sorting and speeding up a transition to a circular economy. Bob is also is responsible for legal affairs of the company, leads Government Relations, and is the Corporate Secretary. He has been instrumental in educating lawmakers, industry and academics on how the Digimarc Platform can help with plastics sorting and recycling and mitigating Deepfakes. He also serves as Compliance Officer and Privacy Officer for the company.

Prior to joining Digimarc, Bob was President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Concentrex, Inc., a software and services provider to the financial services industry. Bob holds an A.B. cum laude from Wabash College and a J.D. summa cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law.

Bruce Davis - Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors

Bruce Davis has nearly 40 years of experience establishing, managing and growing businesses with an emphasis on emerging marketplaces. He has pioneered new markets for several transformative digital technologies, including video games, computer entertainment, electronic TV program guides, secure identity management systems, and digital identities for media objects. He is a thought leader and visionary, known for his keen understanding of the possibilities and pitfalls associated with furthering the diffusion of innovative technologies into new markets. This reputation is built on a track record of leadership and work as an inventor.

Davis served as Chairman and CEO of Activision, one of the largest video game companies in the world, from 1985-1991. He then founded TV Guide On Screen (now part of Rovi), a joint venture of TCI, the leading cable television operator at the time and News Corporation. Under his leadership, the company developed the leading electronic program guide for cable television.

He has a law degree from Columbia Law School, and a B.S. and M.A. from the State University of New York at Albany.

Heidi Dethloff - Vice President, Marketing

Heidi Dethloff leads the company’s corporate communications, creative services, digital marketing and customer advocacy programs. She specializes in business-to-business (B2B) marketing and go-to-customer planning. She is an active speaker and participant in retail and consumer brand events including, GS1 Connect, National Retail Federation (NRF), RetailTech Japan and Pac to the Future II.

Prior to joining Digimarc, Heidi held several leadership roles at IBM including Global Vice President of Midmarket Marketing where she was responsible for generating revenue from midsize companies and supporting IBM’s business partners. She received several awards for her marketing leadership and people management skills and was recognized by CRN’s Women of the Channel for IBM. In addition to her corporate marketing background, Heidi worked at several public relations and digital marketing agencies.

Heidi serves on the Board for In4All focused on bringing educators and businesses together to impact historically underserved students at critical points in their K-12 education. She has a B.A. from Valparaiso University.

Cindy Marple - Vice President, Human Resources

Cindy Marple is responsible for Human Resources at Digimarc. She is responsible for people management strategy, talent acquisition, legal compliance, employment contract negotiation and training and development. Cindy incorporates diversity and inclusion in all HR management programs, and she strives to partner with leadership teams and employees to support overall talent management and objectives.

Cindy heads the “Green Team,” Digimarc’s employee team to promote sustainability, and carries out Digimarc’s company-wide sustainability efforts with both large and small initiatives, such as instituting a paperless HR program. Prior to joining Digimarc, she was a Marketing Events Programs Manager at Merant. She is Everything DiSC and Crucial Conversation certified, and continued her professional excellence through the PSU Human Resources and the Stanford Business Executive Education programs.

Joel Meyer - Executive Vice President, Innovation, Specifications & Standards

Joel Meyer leads Digimarc’s specifications and industry guidelines, working to define and outline the capabilities of the Digimarc Platform in the Automatic Identification & Data Capture (AIDC). Joel manages Digimarc’s participation in AIDC-related work groups of standard setting organizations ISO, AIM and GS1. He oversees the Digimarc Quality Management System and manages the company’s intellectual property portfolio, which consistently ranks among leaders in the computer software category of IEEE Spectrum’s Patent Power scorecard.

Prior to joining Digimarc, Joel was a partner at the law firm of Klarquist Sparkman, where his practice focused on advising high-tech companies on the protection and enforcement of their intellectual property rights. Joel received a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin with highest distinction, and a J.D. with honors from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Brian O’Sullivan - Vice President, Sales and Business Development

Brian O’Sullivan manages Digimarc’s sales, business, development, solution architecture, program management, and partner management teams. He has extensive experience managing large, complex enterprise relationships and selling transformative platforms. Brian leads the commercial strategy for Retail and Consumer Brands, and is responsible for overall customer success.

Brian spent over 20 years at IBM, most recently as Client Director, Electronics Sector West, where he sold platforms such as blockchain and robotic process automation. He was a member of the sales team that helped sell “IBM Watson,” the artificial intelligence platform that was first commercialized in 2013. He has a B.A. from Colby College and a M.S. from The University of Texas at Austin.

George Rieck - Vice President, Government Programs

George Rieck manages Digimarc’s business with a consortium of central banks to deter unauthorized reproduction of banknotes. George has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility over the years at Digimarc, including Program Leader for the former Digimarc ID Systems, supplier of issuance systems for most American states prior to divestiture in 2008.

Prior to joining Digimarc, George was an engineer at Hewlett-Packard where he worked on integrated circuits and ink jet cartridges. He has a B.S. from the University of Vermont and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin.

Tony Rodriguez - Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

Tony Rodriguez oversees engineering, research and development and product management. His background is in image processing, human perception and color theory with an application focus on the creation and addition of Digital Identities to all forms of media. He is a recognized industry thought leader, who has been quoted in such publications as Forbes and Oregon Business. Tony played an integral role in the early development of Digimarc Platform solutions for identifying and tracking digital images and later in the development of a system to deter counterfeiting of banknotes.

Prior to joining Digimarc, Tony worked at the Intel Architecture Lab as a Senior Software Engineer and held a variety of software development and engineering positions at Raytheon, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and IBM. Tony is the inventor on 67 issued U.S. patents and 109 pending patents. He holds a B.S. from the University of Washington and completed the AeA/Stanford Executive Institute program from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Scott Wilcox - Vice President, Client Services

Scott Wilcox leads a diverse group of premedia and print quality professionals responsible for supporting research and development and our growing network of enhancement suppliers, packaging companies and printers.

Prior to joining Digimarc, Scott was a Vice President at SGS International, specializing in business development and strategy. Scott has significant global experience working with consumer brands, retailers, print suppliers and technology companies, holding multiple senior executive roles in his career, with a proven track record in operations, management and sales and client services. Scott has a B.A. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Bruce Davis

Gary DeStefano

Richard King

James Richardson

Andrew Walter

Bern Whitney

Bruce Davis

He has a law degree from Columbia Law School, and a B.S. and M.A. from the State University of New York at Albany.

Gary DeStefano

Gary DeStefano was elected to our Board of Directors in October 2016. Mr. DeStefano has 25 years of senior management experience at Nike Inc., which includes serving as Nike’s President of Global Operations for seven years. He was instrumental in delivering record growth and overseeing all business related activities across 190 countries worldwide. Mr. DeStefano began his career with Nike in 1982 as a Customer Service Area Manager. He held numerous senior executive positions, including Vice President, Global Sales, from 1993 to 1996, where he led the global expansion of the Nike business to markets outside of North America, and was responsible for driving sales growth worldwide. From 1997 to 2001, he served as Vice President & General Manager, Asia Pacific, where he managed all business in the Asia Pacific region including China, Japan, and South Korea. He was also responsible for the company’s largest business as President of USA Operations from 2001 to 2006.

Mr. DeStefano has served on a number of public and private boards, including on the Board of Directors, Umpqua Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: UMPQ); the Board of Regents, University of Portland, Portland, Or., University Relations and Academic Affairs committees; and the Board of Directors, Nike Foundation. He has a bachelor of science from the University of New Hampshire and a master of business administration from Southern New Hampshire University.

Richard King

Richard King is the former President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Albertsons Inc., with 45 years of retail, consumer products and food industry experience. Mr. King began his career with the national grocery company Albertsons in 1963. He held senior level management positions, including President and COO, from February 1996 to June 1999. Mr. King was instrumental in building Albertsons to a $16 billion operation, which included nearly 1,000 stores and more than 100,000 employees. Later Mr. King served as Vice President at Associated Food Stores, an independent supplier of wholesale goods to more than 550 stores, and President of two of its subsidiaries, Fresh Market and Associated Retail Stores. Mr. King also serves as an Advisory Board Member of Encore Associates, Inc., provider of business solutions for retailers, manufacturers and CPG companies.

James Richardson

James T. Richardson was elected to our Board of Directors in March 2003. Mr. Richardson is a director of and consultant to companies in the high-technology sector and has served as chief financial officer and chief administrative officer for five global technology companies ranging in size from $20 million to $300 million in annual revenue. Functional responsibilities have included controllership, treasury, corporate communications, operations, business development (mergers & acquisitions), information systems, human resources and legal affairs. His most recent executive post was as senior vice president and chief financial officer at WebTrends Corp., now a division of NetIQ (Nasdaq: NTIQ), from July 1998 to April 2001. Prior to that, he was senior vice president - corporate operations and chief financial officer at Network General Corporation (which has since merged with McAfee to form Network Associates) from April 1994 to January 1998; vice president finance and administration and chief financial officer at Logic Modeling Corp. (which has since been acquired by Synopsys) from July 1992 to March 1994; vice president finance and administration and chief financial officer at Advanced Logic Research, Inc. (which has since been acquired by Gateway) from November 1989 to July 1992; and similar posts in finance.

Mr. Richardson currently serves as a member of the Boards of Directors for three other companies, including FEI Company (Nasdaq: FEIC) (audit committee chair), Plumtree Software (Nasdaq: PLUM) (compensation committee chair, audit committee member), and Tripwire, a Portland, Oregon-based network security company (audit committee chair). Mr. Richardson received a B.A. in finance and accounting from Lewis and Clark College, an M.B.A. from the University of Portland, and a J.D. from the Lewis and Clark Law School. He graduated from Stanford Directors' College in 2001 and is both a C.P.A. and attorney in Oregon.

Andrew Walter

Andrew J. Walter was elected to our Board of Directors in October 2016. Mr. Walter has more than 25 years of operations, information technology and shared services experience, including his long tenure at The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), where he most recently led their Global Business Services and IT Global Commercial Services and Delivery organization, with responsibility for more than 1,500 IT and multifunctional professionals and more than 5,000 partner resources. During his career at P&G he took on a variety of assignments, including roles in global R&D, product supply and manufacturing, marketing, and international sales and operations. He has deep expertise in the integration of emerging and core commercial technologies, supply chain management, sales and marketing, and consumer and business analytics. Under his leadership, P&G received the first-ever Excellence in Analytics Award by The International Institute of Analytics. In 2013, Harvard Business School added a P&G-based case study to their analytics’ curriculum. His teams have also been recognized with CIO 100 Awards in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Mr. Walter has served on a number of boards, including the GS1 US Board of Governors as Chair for their technology committee, as well as serving as Trustee and Treasurer for the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Greater Cincinnati. He received his bachelor of computer science from the University of Cincinnati.

Bern Whitney

Bern Whitney was elected to our Board of Directors in June 2005. Mr. Whitney is a retired corporate executive with 27 years' experience in the high technology and finance sectors, and since 2002 has served as an independent director and consultant. From June 1999 to July 2002, Mr. Whitney was the vice president and CFO of Handspring, Inc., a handheld computer and wireless communications manufacturer. From August 1997 to June 1999, Mr. Whitney was the executive vice president and CFO of Sanmina Corporation, a high-end data communications and telecommunications manufacturer. He served as the former vice president of finance and manufacturing operations (1996-1997) and corporate controller (1995-1996) of Network General Corporation, a developer of network management software. From 1987 to 1995, Mr. Whitney held a number of senior financial management positions at Conner Peripherals, Inc., a disk and tape drive manufacturer. He began his career in financial analysis and accounting at Friden Alcatel, an electronic office equipment supplier, from 1983 to 1987, and Randtron Systems, and electronic antenna systems manufacturer, from 1981 to 1983.

Mr. Whitney serves on and has served as a director on a number of public and private boards including Plumtree Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUM) (audit committee chair, corporate governance committee member) and the California State University Business School. Mr. Whitney received a B.S. in business administration, majoring in finance, from California State University Chico and a masters of business administration from San Jose State University.