His prior experience includes over 40 years in corporate executive management as well as entrepreneurial ventures. In the late 90s, he served as Chief Operating Officer for Ultralife Batteries Inc., helping to turn around this publicly-held manufacturer of advanced battery power sources. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive Officer as well as a major shareholder of Holotek Ltd., a high technology company which designed, developed, manufactured and sold laser imaging systems worldwide. Along with the company’s founder and outside board of directors, O’Brien represented approximately 120 shareholders of Holotek and successfully negotiated the sale of the company to an OEM customer.
Previously, Roger was Corporate Vice President of Sun Microsystems, Inc., helping to grow the company from $500 million to more than $2 billion in sales during a 24-month period. That experience led him to form the first incarnation of his consulting business, RDO Associates, providing advisory and implementation services to a variety of high technology companies in the Silicon Valley.
Roger also served as Chief Financial Officer for Walker Manufacturing, a $750 million unit of Tenneco Automotive, where he and the management team increased profits 75 percent over a four-year period through market share growth and aggressive cost-reduction programs. Roger designed and managed the strategic planning process, led several business acquisitions, and steered the efforts of a corporate-wide taskforce to recommend and implement computer-integrated manufacturing processes.
His earlier career positions included Venture Management Executive, Corporate Venture Capital for Exxon Corporation; Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis for Memorex Corporation; financial planning, analysis and management roles at Xerox Corporation; and staff physicist for Combustion Engineering, Inc., developing advanced nuclear power plant designs.
Roger holds a BS degree in Nuclear Engineering from New York University and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
In the upstate New York region, Roger is a member of several Boards, including; 22nd Century Group (NYSE: xxii), East House, 100-Proof Living, Bristol ID Technologies and Innovative Solutions Inc. and serves as an adjunct professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. In Santa Fe, New Mexico has been a visiting speaker for Technology Ventures Corporation and a member of the Equity Capital Advisory Team for TVC.
Roger is active in charitable and civic affairs, with a particular focus on economic development and wellness His community contributions have included:
