Board of Directors

Wahid Nawabi has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since 2016. Wahid joined AeroVironment in 2011 as senior vice president and general manager of the EES business segment, where he reshaped the segment’s business strategy, launched a number of award-winning, innovative new products and significantly improved its position in the market.  Prior to his current role, Wahid served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the company, where he managed all aspects of AeroVironment’s two business segments.  Wahid also managed multiple business process improvement projects, which led to significant improvements in customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.  He led the integration of the company’s engineering, operations, supply chain and quality functional organizations into a single corporate shared services model across both business segments and all product lines.  Wahid spent 16 years of his career at American Power Conversion Corporation (APC) in multiple leadership roles helping the company achieve its business strategy.  As a former Vice President of the enterprise business segment at APC, Wahid played a key role in launching the company’s ambitious and successful strategy of entering the data center critical power and cooling infrastructure business.  During his tenure, APC became the global leader in designing and manufacturing fully integrated data center power and cooling infrastructure solutions.  Wahid played a key role in growing the company from $50 million to more than $2.4 billion in annual revenue, and its eventual sale to Schneider Electric for $6.1 Billion.  This was the largest acquisition in the history of Schneider Electric.

Charles Thomas Burbage has served as a member of our board of directors since 2013.  Mr. Burbage retired from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in April 2013 after a distinguished 33 year career, during which he served most recently as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Joint Strike Fighter Program from 2000 to 2013. During his tenure at Lockheed Martin, Mr. Burbage also served as President of the company's LM Aeronautical Systems division from 1999 to 2000, leading the restructuring of that division prior to its consolidation in 2000. Mr. Burbage previously served on active duty in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Aviator and recorded more than 3,000 flight hours in 38 types of military aircraft before retiring as a Captain in the Naval Reserve in 1994.

Mr. Burbage has received numerous industry awards, including, the inaugural Award for Ethical Leadership from the U.S. Naval Academy/Harvard Business Review in 2007; the Leadership in Aerospace Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers in 2006; the Donald C. Burnham Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers; the Silver Knight Award from the National Management Association; three Laurels Awards from Aviation Week magazine and the Aerospace Industry Personality of the Year Award for 2002 from Flight International magazine. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Burbage received a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and holds an M.S. in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Admiral Davidson is a 1982 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a 1992 distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval War College. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies. He is currently on the boards of Par Pacific Holdings and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, among other private sector organizations. The Admiral’s decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” and a Superior Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State.

Cindy Lewis has served as a member of our board of directors since 2021. Ms. Lewis is the chairperson, president and chief executive officer of Airborn Consolidated Holdings, Inc. – a middle market employee-owned company specializing in high reliability electronics manufacturing. During her time in these roles since 1998, she developed the company’s growth strategy and successfully transitioned AirBorn into the prosperous middle-market company it is today. Ms. Lewis has led AirBorn through multiple refinancing initiatives to fund growth capital investments and acquisitions, which subsequently broadened the company’s capabilities and provided strategic market diversification. She also oversees the company’s Environment, Social and Governance (“ESG”) strategy and leads Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) activities. Separately, Ms. Lewis served from 2006 through 2019 in various board and officer roles for the National and Southwest Chapter of the ESOP Association which promotes employee ownership awareness and best practices. She currently serves on the Georgetown, TX Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Ms. Lewis earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington’s College of Business and completed an Executive Development Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mary Beth Long has served as a member of our board of directors since 2023. Ms. Long served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense of International Security Affairs under Secretary of Defense Robert E. Gates. In this capacity she was the first woman confirmed to a four-star military equivalent position by the U.S. Senate. The role was the culmination of 17 years of intelligence and defense related government service where she held multiple leadership roles including Chair of NATO’s nuclear and missile defense High Level Group, Principal Deputy Secretary of Defense for Asia and Southeast Asia, and Deputy Secretary of Defense for Counter Narco-terrorism. For her exemplary service, Ms. Long received the Department of Defense’s highest civilian honors from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and separately from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen.

After returning to the private sector, Ms. Long founded two multi-million-dollar advisory firms, and most recently founded and led a highly successful government contracting firm – Metis Solutions, LLC – which sold in 2016 to private equity. She is regularly called upon to be a policy expert based on her many post-government roles including as Senior Subject Matter Expert for the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Senior Advisor to the Director of USAID at the Department of State, and as a Senior International Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Colombia. Ms. Long is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Defense and Aerospace Export Council and is a Cipher Brief Expert. She also is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has presided over meetings regarding NATO, Ukraine, Afghanistan and other timely topics.

Ms. Long is a magna cum laude honors graduate and Phi Beta Kappa alumni from Penn State University, where she studied the Chinese language abroad in Taiwan. She received the university’s highest alumna honors in 2018 and currently serves on the university’s Provost’s Global Advisory Council. She also received her law degree with honors from Washington and Lee School of Law. Ms. Long is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Spy Museum and the Defense Intelligence Memorial Fund and is active in rescuing Afghans who supported U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

Edward Muller has served as a member of our board of directors since 2013. Mr. Muller served as Vice Chairman of NRG Energy, Inc., or NRG, a U.S. based energy production and distribution company from December 2012 to February 2017. Prior to the merger in 2012 of NRG and GenOn Energy Inc., or GenOn, he served as the chairman and chief executive of GenOn, which also produced and sold electricity in the United States. From 2005 to 2010, he was chairman and chief executive of Mirant Corporation, which produced and sold electricity in the United States and internationally. Previously, Mr. Muller served as president and chief executive officer of Edison Mission Energy until 2000, which had major international activities. Mr. Muller previously was vice president, chief financial officer, general counsel and secretary of Whittaker Corp., a Los Angeles-based conglomerate with activities in aerospace, chemicals, healthcare and metals. Mr. Muller serves as a director of Transocean Ltd., an offshore oil and gas driller, and previously served as a director of Contact Energy, Ltd., Edison Mission Energy, Interval, Inc., Oasis Residential, Inc., Ormat Technologies, Inc., RealEnergy, Inc., RigNet Inc., Strategic Data Corp., The Keith Companies, Inc., and Whittaker Corp.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Pacific Council on International Policy, and previously was Chairman of the U.S.-Philippines Business Committee and Co-Chairman of the International Energy Development Council. Mr. Muller received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College J.D. from Yale Law School.

Stephen F. Page has served as a member of our board of directors since 2013. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University in 1962, Mr. Page began his career as an accountant at Deloitte & Touche LLP and then earned his Juris Doctor degree at Loyola Law School in 1968.  He spent the next 20 years with Black & Decker, first as general counsel for its McCullough Corporation subsidiary, then as treasurer, and finally as executive vice president and chief financial officer at the company’s corporate headquarters in Towson, Md.  Following Black & Decker, Mr. Page served in many leadership roles at United Technologies Corporation, including director, vice chairman, chief financial officer and president, and chief executive officer of Otis Elevator, an $8 billion division of the company, before retiring in 2004.

Mr. Page most recently served on the corporate boards and audit committees of Lowe’s Companies, Inc., PACCAR, Inc., and Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc., where he was lead director, and on the board of trustees at Loyola Marymount University.  He chaired the audit committees at PACCAR and Lowe’s. Mr. Page currently serves as a trustee of Mount St. Mary’s College and the Catholic Education Foundation.

General Joseph L. Votel is a retired U.S. Army Four-Star officer and the former Commander of the U.S. Central Command – responsible for U.S. and coalition military operations in the Middle East, Levant and Central and South Asia. During his 39 years in the military, he commanded special operations and conventional military forces at every level. His career included combat in Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq. Notably, he led a 79-member coalition that successfully liberated Iraq and Syria from the Islamic State Caliphate. He preceded his assignment at CENTCOM with service as the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and the Joint Special Operations Command.

Following his retirement from military service, General Votel served as the President & CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). He is member of the Board of Trustees of Noblis Corporation and a Strategic Advisor for Sierra Nevada Corporation. Votel is a Board Director with Minnesota Wire, DC Capital Partners, Helix Decision Science and a member of the Government Advisory Board for Insight Partners. He a non-resident Distinguished Fellow at the Middle East Institute and the Distinguished Chair of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

General Votel is a member the Executive Boards at Freedom House and the UPenn Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL). He is a current member of the Defense Business Board and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Votel was recognized with the Distinguished Military Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council, the U.S. – Arab Defense Leadership Award from the National Council on U.S. - Arab Relations, the Patriot Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the SGT James T. Regan Lifetime Achievement Award from the “Lead the Way” Foundation and the Freedom Award from the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.