Board Members

Elected 1998

Pat Nettles's career in telecommunications and computer networking spans more than 40 years, during which time he has served in a number of different roles in high-technology operations, including engineering, marketing, finances, and general management. Nettles has served as chairman of the board of Ciena Corporation since May 2001, having been Ciena's president and chief executive officer from April 1994 to May 2001. From 1992 until 1994, Nettles was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Blyth Holdings, a publicly held supplier of client/server software. From late 1990 through 1992, he was president and chief executive officer of Protocol Engines, Inc., a development-stage outgrowth of Silicon Graphics that focused on very-large-scale integration solutions for high-performance computer networking. From 1989 to 1990, Nettles served as chief financial officer for Optilink, a venture start-up that developed optical digital loop carrier products for the public telephone network's "last mile." He was named Ernst & Young's 1997 national Entrepreneur of the Year in the Emerging Entrepreneur category.

In addition to his post at Ciena, Nettles currently serves on the board of directors of the Progressive Corporation. Until May 2018, he served as independent chairman of the board of Axcelis Technologies, Inc.

Nettles received his BS from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his PhD from Caltech. He formerly served as a member and chairman of the Georgia Institute of Technology Advisory Board and currently serves as a trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation.

Previous Committee: Investment, Student Experience, former vice chair; Technology Transfer