Mark Dankberg, Chairman of the Board & CEO, ViaSat joins Executive Growth to discuss how he co-founded Viasat Inc. in 1986 and has led the company’s rapid growth. He has held the position of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since inception.
Under his leadership, Viasat has consistently been one of America’s fastest growing technology companies. As a start-up, Viasat was selected to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies three times. After listing on the NASDAQ exchange in 1996 Viasat has been recognized multiple times by leading business and industry publications including BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Red Herring, DefenseNews, Space News, and Washington Technology for its exceptional performance and growth.
Mark is an acknowledged industry expert in aerospace, defense, and satellite communications, and is the leading visionary for a new generation of high-capacity satellite systems. He has co-authored several military standards on satellite networking, and holds a number of patents in communications and satellite networking technologies. He has participated on Department of Defense advisory panels and was invited to testify before a Congressional committee on high technology growth companies and IPOs.
Mark has received a number of awards for his industry and business leadership:
- 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego in 2000
- 2003 Satellite Industry Executive of the Year in 2003
- 2008 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aerospace International Communications Award
- 2012 Visionary Executive of the Year, Satellite Markets and Research
- 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Industry Innovator
- 2013 San Diego Business Journal Most Admired CEO Founders Award
- 2015 Society of Satellite Professionals Hall of Fame
He has also been an invited speaker on communication technology, entrepreneurship, and executive management at several universities including Rice University, NYU, and University of California at San Diego. He was a founding member of the board of directors of the San Diego Telecom Council (now CommNexus), and served on the San Diego County Regional Economic Advisory Board. In addition, he has been invited to serve as a judge several times at the local and national levels for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program.
Mark began his career with the Collins Radio Division of Rockwell International, and at Linkabit Corp in San Diego, where he held positions in engineering, technical management and business segment management.
He earned B.S. EE and M.S. EE degrees from Rice University and is a member of the Rice University Electrical and Computer Engineering Hall of Fame.
www.viasat.com
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