Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer
Charles Ergen started DISH Network Corporation (formerly EchoStar Communications Corporation) in 1980, which sold C-band satellite TV dishes to rural homes in Colorado. Under his vision and leadership, DISH Network was launched in 1996, which has become the fastest growing direct-to-home satellite television company in the United States. In 2001, Ergen was the first person to ever win the Rocky Mountain News' Business Person of the Year for a second time, being recognized for the same award in 1996. Ergen was named to the Forbes Magazine Top Ten CEO's list and as the Frost & Sullivan 2001 CEO of the Year for Satellite Industry. In 2000, Aviation Week Magazine named him Space Industry Business Man of the Year. In June 1991, INC. Magazine named him Master Entrepreneur of the Year for the Rocky Mountain region. In 1988, he received the Home Satellite TV Association Star Award. Ergen was instrumental in fighting for consumer rights with the passage of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act in 1999 which gave American consumers the right to watch local TV channels via satellite. He has also testified before Congress regarding other video competition issues on numerous occasions and was a co-founder of the Satellite Broadcasting Communications Association. He received his B.S. in General Business and Accounting from the University of Tennessee and his M.B.A from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University.
Carl Vogel serves as the Director and Vice Chairman of DISH Network in charge of all financial and strategic initiatives. Vogel served as President of DISH Network from September 2006 until February 2008 and has served on the Board of Directors and as Vice Chairman since 2005. From 2001 until 2005, Vogel served as the President and CEO of Charter, a publicly-traded company providing cable television and broadband services to approximately six million customers. Between 1997 and 2001, Vogel held various senior executive positions in companies affiliated with Liberty Media Corporation. He was also chairman and chief executive officer of Primestar and chief executive officer of Star Choice. Vogel received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Norbert College in DePere, WI, with an emphasis in finance and accounting. Vogel was one of our executive officers from 1994 until 1997, including serving as our President from 1995 until 1997 when he was a key member of the executive team that created and launched DISH Network in 1996.
David Moskowitz is currently a senior advisor to DISH Network Corporation. Mr. Moskowitz has been with the company since 1990 and was most recently Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Prior to joining EchoStar in March 1990, Mr. Moskowitz was Corporate Counsel for MDC Holdings, Inc., a national home building and mortgage banking company, from 1986 to 1990. Previously, he practiced in the general corporate and securities law areas with a prominent Denver law firm. Mr. Moskowitz received his J.D. with honors from the National Law Center at George Washington University in 1983 and his B.A. summa cum laude from Western Maryland College in 1980. He is a member of the American Corporate Counsel Association, the Denver and Colorado Bar associations and a variety of civic organizations.
Director and Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Distribution
James DeFranco co-founded DISH Network along with Charles Ergen. DeFranco serves as the Executive Vice President and oversees sales and distribution, travel/events and marketing. He has held various positions with DISH Network's subsidiaries, including president of Echo Acceptance Corporation, HTS and HT Ventures, Inc. DeFranco attended Clarkson College of Technology in Postdam, N.Y., where his academic emphasis was industrial distribution. DeFranco is a member on EchoStar's Board of Directors.
Mrs. Ergen has served on the Board since May 2001 and has had a variety of operational responsibilities with us over the past 25 years. Mrs. Ergen has served on the board of trustees of The Children's Hospital of Denver since 2001 and served on the board of trustees of The Children's Hospital Foundation of Denver during 2000. She has also served on the advisory board of the Girl Scouts USA Mile Hi Council based in Denver since 2000. Mrs. Ergen co-founded DISH Network Corporation with her husband Charles W. Ergen and James DeFranco in 1980.
(Audit Committee Financial Expert). Mr. Goodbarn joined the Board in December 2002 and is a member of our Audit Committee and Executive Compensation Committee. Since July 2002, Mr. Goodbarn has served as director, president and chief financial officer of Secure64 Software Corporation, a company he co-founded. Mr. Goodbarn was chief financial officer of Janus Capital Corporation from 1992 until late 2000. During that time, he was a member of the executive committee and served on the board of directors of many Janus corporate and investment entities. Until September 2003, Mr. Goodbarn also served as a director of Nighthawk Systems. Mr. Goodbarn is a CPA and spent 12 years at Price Waterhouse prior to joining Janus.
Gary Howard joined the Board in November 2005 and is a member of our Nominating Committee and Executive Compensation Committee. Mr. Howard served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Liberty Media Corporation from July 1998 to February 2004 as well as serving on Liberty Media Corporation's board of directors from July 1998 to January 2005. Additionally, Mr. Howard held several executive officer positions with companies affiliated with Liberty Media Corporation.
Mr. Ortolf joined the Board in May 2005 and is a member of our Executive Compensation Committee and Audit Committee. Mr. Ortolf has been the President of Colorado Meadowlark Corp., a privately held investment management firm, for more then ten years. From 1988 until 1991, Mr. Ortolf served as our President and Chief Operating Officer.
= Chairman of the Board
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