Bio Details

William J. Dawson was elected a director of the Company in 1998 and currently serves as Chair, Audit Committee. Mr. Dawson previously served as the Chief Financial Officer at Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADMS), a specialty pharmaceutical company, from 2014 until his retirement in 2017. He also previously served as Chief Financial Officer at Catalyst Biosciences, Inc., a then privately-held biotechnology company, for two years from 2010 to 2012 and he was Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer with Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS), a publicly held biopharmaceutical company, from August 2004 to April 2009. Prior to joining Cerus, he spent a total of 26 years in senior financial positions at companies in biotechnology, healthcare services and information technology, investment banking, energy, and transportation. As an investment banker, Mr. Dawson assisted in three public equity offerings for McGrath RentCorp, beginning with its initial public offering in 1984. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Wellington Trust Company, a private institutional investment management company and subsidiary of Wellington Management Company, LLP, and Nalu Medical, Inc., a privately-held medical device company. Mr. Dawson received an A.B. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. 

With his wealth of experience in financial and strategic transactions, as well as his experiences in the transportation, technology, and energy industries, and as Chief Financial Officer of publicly traded companies, Mr. Dawson provides significant value to the Board of Directors. Additionally, Mr. Dawson’s special skills include experience with mergers and acquisitions; finance, accounting, and SEC filings; capital markets; business development; IT systems and cyber security; strategic and corporate development; stockholder engagement; and philanthropic and community engagement. Mr. Dawson also has extensive public board and committee chair experience and is an Audit Committee financial expert per the listing standards of the NASDAQ Stock Market.