VirnetX Promotes Three to Vice President Positions
VirnetX Holding Corp., an Internet security software and technology company, has promoted three employees to vice president positions: Dr. Victor Larson has been promoted to vice president of research and development, Jon Weaklend has been promoted to vice president of finance and Greg Wood has been promoted to vice president of corporate communications.
"I am very pleased to announce these promotions," said Kendall Larsen, VirnetX CEO and president. "These promotions are well deserved and I am confident that these three employees will continue to work at their highest level along with the other members of our talented team as we achieve new milestones for VirnetX."
As vice president of research and development, Larson will continue to direct VirnetX's research and development efforts as it moves towards securing the emerging 4G mobile markets. Larson is a co-inventor of VirnetX's technology and, while working at Science Applications International Corp., was on the original team responsible for VirnetX's patent portfolio. Prior to joining VirnetX, Larson worked for more than 20 years doing system engineering, software design and technical program management under contract to many branches of the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. Larson worked on numerous advanced prototypes to implement new solutions to secure communications, remote sensing data extraction and processing, intelligence information extraction and data visualization. Larson holds a Ph.D. in information technology from George Mason University, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a B.S. in mechanical rngineering from Virginia Tech. Larson works out of VirnetX's East Coast office and reports to Dr. Robert Dunham Short III, VirnetX's chief technical officer and chief scientist.
With Jon Weaklend's promotion to vice president of finance, he will continue to be instrumental in guiding VirnetX's day to day financial operations. He has been the company’s controller since 2008 and brings more than 30 years of financial experience. Prior to joining VirnetX, Weaklend was sr. accountant for Daniel M. Ukestad and Associates, CFO for Global ATN Inc., director of finance and administration for Global Weather Dynamics Inc. and sr. accountant for Site Technologies Inc. Weaklend works out of VirnetX's corporate office in Scotts Valley, Calif. and reports to and works closely with William Sliney, VirnetX's chief financial officer.
As vice president of corporate communications, Greg Wood will oversee all corporate communications including investor relations and public relations. He has more than 15 years of executive level brand experience that includes McDonald's, Safeway, Nissan, Burger King, Taco Bell, Nutri-System, Supercuts and Pacific Gas & Electric with advertising agencies that include J. Walter Thompson, Chiat/Day, Tracy-Locke/BBDO, Hoefer Dietrich & Brown and Crossover Creative. Wood's areas of marketing expertise include strategic branding, investor relations, public relations, licensing, new business and product development and merchandising. Wood holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Davis and works out of VirnetX's West Coast office where he reports to Kathi Larsen, VirnetX's co-founder and chief administrative officer.
Dustan Sheehan has been hired as webmaster. He brings more than 11 years of design experience and will be responsible for all of VirnetX's web services and technical communications. Dustan, who has been indirectly involved with VirnetX since inception, holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Sheehan works at the Scotts Valley office and reports directly to Greg Wood, vice president of corporate communications.