SirsiDynix

		About Us Executive Profiles Board of Directors Dynix Vision Employment Info Press Releases Dynix in the News Sponsorships Global User Groups Contact Dynix Conferences

Board of Directors

John Ware
Chairman of the Board

John Ware has more than 24 years of experience in municipal management and is president and CEO of the 21st Century Group, an ethnic minority-owned private equity investment firm headquartered in Dallas, TX. For 10 of the past 11 years, Mr. Ware has served as either chief executive or chief operating officer of a $1 billion municipal corporation and has overseen $3 billion in municipal financing transactions. Prior to forming the 21st Century Group, Mr. Ware served as city manager of the City of Dallas. Under Mr. Ware's leadership, Dallas was cited by Financial World as one of the best-managed cities in the United States. In 1998, Mr. Ware earned the inaugural Public/Private Partnership Award from the International City Management Association. He earned a BA from Ouachita Baptist University and received a Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse University.

Percy L. Berger, Sr.
Vice Chairman of the Board

Serving as vice chairman of the board of Dynix, Percy Berger is founder and president of Green Leaf Ridge Company, a private equity investment firm based in Chicago, IL. Prior to founding Green Leaf Ridge in 1998, he served as a managing director and senior vice president at Bank of America and has held similar positions at Chase Manhattan Bank and Wells Fargo Bank. In addition to his responsibilities with Green Leaf Ridge and Dynix, Mr. Berger serves on the executive committee of the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors in Chicago. He also serves on the board of directors for Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. He is a certified public accountant and a member of both the Illinois Society of Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in accounting from Southern University and A&M College.

Lana G. Porter
Vice Chair of the Board

Lana Porter served as president and CEO of Dynix predecessors Ameritech Library Services and epixtech from 1996 until 2002. She has more than 25 years' experience in the software and telecommunications industries, and is the founder and CEO of L&M Enterprises, a consulting organization based in Chicago, IL. Prior to her arrival in the library community, she held executive positions at Ameritech in sales, marketing, and general management. She is president of the board of Friends of Libraries USA and chair of Leadership America, while also participating on the advisory boards for the Snowbird Institute and for the Northern Exposure to Leadership organization. Additionally, she advises leadership institutes at St. Francis University Business School, Florida State University, and Kent State University. Ms. Porter was selected as the 2002 Distinguished Alumna of Murray State University. She holds BA and MA degrees from Murray State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from The Ohio State University.

Jack B. Blount
Board Director

With nearly 30 years of experience in the computer industry, Jack Blount has served in numerous executive leadership roles for a wide variety of leading technology companies. In addition, he has served as a board director for publicly traded companies Borland Software, Inc. and TeleComputing, Inc., and as Chairman of the Board for US Data Authority Corporation. He has also served as Chairman for private technology companies Mobileware, Inc. and Picus Software, Inc., and as a board director for DejaVu Corporation and AnswerSoft, Inc. Blount has been the President and CEO of Dynix since June 2002.

Robert A. Walton
Board Member

Bob Walton is a leading thinker and accomplished executive in the library community, bringing more than 20 years of library experience to the Dynix Board of Directors. Since earning an MLIS degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980, he has worked as a librarian, consultant, professor of information science, and library technology executive. In recent assignments, Walton served as Chairman of the Board for Ex Libris USA and as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Innovative Interfaces. He has published more than 50 articles in professional journals and library publications and has presented more than 600 full-day workshops within the library community. Presently, Walton serves as Vice President for Finance and Business at The College of Wooster in Wooster, OH.

W. Kelvin Walker
Board Member

Kelvin Walker is an investment professional with more than 12 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, merchant banking, corporate finance, credit analysis, business planning, and strategic development. Serving as a principal at the 21st Century Group in Dallas, TX, Mr. Walker is involved in originating, structuring, executing, and monitoring the firm's relationships with partner institutions. Prior to joining 21st Century Group, he served for 6 years as a senior vice president of Mesirow Financial, Inc. and its predecessor firm, Pryor, McClendon, Counts & Co., Inc. in their structured finance and corporate finance departments, respectively. Mr. Walker received his BA from Morehouse College and a master's degree in marketing from Northwestern University.

Michael Brown
Board Member

Michael Brown is a co-founder and general partner of Stratford Capital Partners in Dallas, TX. He has more than 20 years of principal investing experience and co-manages the affairs of the Stratford's partnerships. Prior to co-founding Stratford, Mr. Brown served as a partner of the Sunwestern Investment Group, a $130 million private equity firm where he focused on later-stage investing. Previously, Mr. Brown was employed as a vice president at MBank. In addition to Dynix, he has served on the board of directors for several other Stratford portfolio companies and has held leadership positions with various business and civic organizations, including the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies, the Dallas-Ft. Worth Private Equity Forum, the Presbyterian Hospital Healthcare Forum, and the Dallas County Community College District Foundation. Mr. Brown received a finance degree from the University of Georgia and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.