Donald J. Strand

After serving in Vietnam and Korea with the U.S. Air Force, Don returned home and, using the G.I. Bill, obtained an Electronics Engineering degree from Brown Institute in Minneapolis. Upon graduation, Don began working with a group of physicists and engineers in the Boston area designing and building systems used to modify silicon and other materials that proved useful to the fast-growing computer chip industry. Over the next twenty-five years, Don held positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, sales and field engineering and support for two successful startups and two major international corporations who provided complex equipment to Intel, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Samsung, Siemens and other major computer chip manufacturers worldwide. In his final position in the industry as Vice President of Worldwide Support with Therma-Wave Corporation, Don served with the team that oversaw an LBO recapitalization to transition the company to new ownership and increased shareholder value.  Don also earned a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Counseling and a master’s degree in communication and now serves as an ordained pastor for Christian Family Fellowship in Santa Rosa, California.