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About Us
 

Board of Directors

Michael W. Ferro, Jr. - Chairman - Merge Healthcare Inc.

Justin C. Dearborn - CEO & Director - Merge Healthcare Inc.

Dennis Brown - Director - Merge Healthcare Inc.

Bob Geras - Director - Merge Healthcare Inc.

Gregg G. Hartemayer - Director - Merge Healthcare Inc.

Neele E. Stearns, Jr. - Director - Merge Healthcare Inc.

Richard Reck - Director - Merge Healthcare Inc.

 

Michael W. Ferro, Jr. is Chairman and CEO of Merrick Ventures and the past chairman, CEO and founder of Click Commerce, Inc. Under Mr. Ferro’s leadership, Click Commerce posted 14 consecutive quarters of growth and profitability and acquired and integrated nine companies. During this time, the company’s stock value increased 900 percent. Because of Click Commerce’s industry reputation and proven ability to deliver results, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a multi-billion dollar Fortune 150 company acquired Click Commerce on Oct. 24, 2006. ITW selected Click Commerce as the platform to launch their software and technology group. Mr. Ferro is a Director on the Board of Trustees of The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, The Field Museum of Chicago, The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Northwestern University and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He serves on the boards of Northwestern University, The Chicago Community Trust, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Northwestern Memorial Foundation, Big Shoulders Foundation, and AfterSchool Matters. In addition to his civic and philanthropic activities, Mr. Ferro participates in several business organizations. He is the chairman of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and a board member of the Economic Club of Chicago. Mr. Ferro is also a member of Young Presidents’ Organization and The Commercial Club of Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois.

Justin C. Dearborn – the Company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Dearborn comes to Merge with diverse experience in operational, financial and legal roles. Since September 2006, Mr. Dearborn has served as Managing Director and General Counsel of Merrick Ventures, LLC ("Merrick"), an affiliate of Merrick RIS, LLC. Prior to Merrick Ventures, Mr. Dearborn spent over 9 years at Click Commerce, Inc. ("Click"), a publicly-traded software and services company that was acquired by Illinois Tool Works, Inc. ("ITW") in October of 2006. During the initial years of his tenure at Click, Mr. Dearborn served as Vice President and General Counsel, and, among other duties, was instrumental in its acquisition and business integration efforts. From 2003 to 2006, Click Commerce acquired and integrated eight software companies. Mr. Dearborn’s last role at Click was as the General Manager of a Click software and services business unit. Mr. Dearborn has resigned his position with Merrick Ventures effective immediately.

Dennis Brown served as Vice President of finance, chief financial officer and treasurer of Apogent Technologies Inc. (“Apogent”), a New York Stock Exchange company from January 2003 to December 2004. Fisher Scientific International Inc. acquired Apogent in August 2004, and after completion of a transition period, Mr. Brown retired from Apogent in December 2004. From December 2000 through January 2003, Mr. Brown served as a financial consultant to Apogent. Mr. Brown also served as vice president of finance, chief financial officer and treasurer of Apogent’s predecessor, Sybron International Corporation (“Sybron”), a publicly traded company formerly headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from January 1993 through December 2000, at which time Sybron’s life sciences group was relocated to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Sybron was renamed Apogent. Mr. Brown is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants ( England). Mr. Brown has served on our Board since May 2003 and previously served on our Board from the date of our initial public offering in February 1998 until May 2000.

Bob Geras has been a Shareholder since May 1989 and our director since prior to our initial public offering in 1998. Since January 2004, Mr. Geras has been a drector of Capital Growth Systems, Inc., a public reporting holding company for Nexvu Technologies LLC, an application performance management software company. Mr. Geras has been a private venture investor for more than 25 years and has participated as a director of, investor in, and/or advisor to numerous small businesses in fields ranging from medical equipment, computer software, banking, telecommunications, industrial distribution and the internet. He has also assisted in corporate planning, capital formation and management of his various investments. Mr. Geras holds a B.S.B.A. from Northwestern University.

Gregg G. Hartemayer serves as special advisor to Merrick Ventures. He has extensive international consulting experience in a broad range of industries such as High Tech, Consumer Products Goods, Pharma and others. Prior to Merrick Ventures, Mr. Hartemayer spent 28 years at Arthur Andersen, now Accenture, where he began his career as managing director responsible for American and Global Consumer Goods. In 1998, Mr. Hartemayer was promoted to chief executive for one of five Global Operating Groups and was responsible for $2.5 billion in revenue, as well as Accenture’s Japanese practice. During this time, and until his retirement, he served on the boards of Accenture’s Global Management Committee and The Executive Committee. In his final role at Accenture, Mr. Hartemayer served as chief executive for Global Technology, Outsourcing and Global Delivery and managed a $6 billion, 15,000 person offshore operation. Mr. Hartemayer served on the board of directors of Click Commerce, an on-demand supply chain management software company, during its initial public offering. He also sat on the boards of several other high tech companies such as Avanade, iRise, and Adeptia. He is currently on the Misericordia Advisory board; an organization that helps individuals with developmental disabilities gain independence and enhance their quality of life. Mr. Hartemayer holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Michigan.

Neele E. Stearns, Jr. is Chairman of Financial Investments Corporation, a private equity investment firm, and has held this position since February 2001. He has served as a director of Maytag Corporation, Wallace Computer Services, Inc., Click Commerce, Inc. and Footstar, Inc. At Maytag, Mr. Stearns was a member of the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Audit Committee; at Footstar, he was Chairman of the Audit Committee until he became Interim Chairman and CEO on September 15, 2003, a position he held until January 15, 2004; at Click Commerce he was Chairman of the Audit Committee. Previously, Mr. Stearns was Chairman of the Board of Wallace Computer Services, Inc. from January 2000 through November 2000. Prior to 1995, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of CC Industries, Inc., a diversified holding company in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Stearns is a director at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, a not-for-profit healthcare organization and was Chairman of Highland Park Hospital prior to its merger with ENH. He is also a Director of Presbyterian Homes, a not-for-profit group of continuing care retirement communities serving the Chicago Metropolitan area Mr. Stearns holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he graduated “With Distinction”. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Carlton College in Northfield, Minnesota where he was a Phi Beta Kappa.

Richard A. Reck is the president of Business Strategy Advisors LLC, a business strategy consulting firm, and has served in such capacity since August 2002. Mr. Reck joined the certified public accounting firm of KPMG LLP in June 1973 and remained in their employ until his retirement as partner in July 2002. He currently serves on the boards of Interactive Intelligence, Inc., a publicly held software company, and Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a publicly held biopharmaceutical company, as well as the boards of several private and not-for-profit entities. Mr. Reck is a certified public accountant and holds a B.A. in Mathematics from DePauw University and and MBA in Accounting from the University of Michigan. Mr. Reck has been a director of our company since April 2003.