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Daniel W. Akins | Principal Advisor
Dan Akins is a transportation economist who has over 20 years experience consulting in the commercial airline industry. Mr. Akins has provided detailed air transport demand forecasts and economic impact analysis for both US and foreign airports, and has also worked on behalf of a number of passenger and cargo air carriers, principally in international route applications under the auspices of bilateral treaties.
Recently, Mr. Akins has been a financial advisor to organized labor groups in several recent U.S. airline restructurings, including, American, Continental, US Airways, United, and Hawaiian. He remains deeply involved in supporting ongoing labor negotiations at several carriers.
Mr. Akins is a graduate of the London School of Economics where he specialized in Transport Economics.

W. Bruce Allen, Ph.D. | Principal Advisor
Dr. Bruce Allen is an internationally recognized expert in transportation economics and a Professor of Business, Public Policy, Regional Science and Transportation at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Director of the Wharton Transportation Program. His consulting expertise includes: freight demand theory, impact of transit investments, physical distribution management/business logistics, railroad and motor carrier economics and transportation regulation.
Dr. Allen received his Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University.

Spencer Almy | Analyst
Spencer Almy is an analyst based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining MergeGlobal, Mr. Almy worked in the Georgetown Investment Office, where he conducted research, due diligence, and investment analysis on public equity funds and hedge funds and contributed to the allocation decisions for the $1 billion portfolio. Mr. Almy is experienced in financial modeling and analysis, and has industry research experience in transportation, energy, and consumer discretionary sectors
Mr. Almy joined the MergeGlobal team in 2009, and holds a B.A. in Finance from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He holds his Series 7 license and recently passed the level 1 exam of the CFA program on his first attempt.

Yoav Ben-Yeshaya | Vice President
Yoav Ben-Yeshaya, based in Washington, D.C., has over 6 years experience in developing business strategies, managing operations and conducting primary market research aimed at informing complex business decisions. A native of Israel, Mr. Ben Yeshaya's previous experience includes running an internet marketing company, practicing as a lawyer and rising to the rank of major in the Israeli Defense Forces. He holds an M.B.A. from Georgetown University and an L.L.B. from Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Mr. Ben-Yeshaya is fluent in English and Hebrew.

Peter Black | Analyst
Peter Black is an Analyst based in Washington, D.C. Mr. Black has a background in international trade flow analysis and international finance. He is experienced in financial modeling and analysis as well as industry research, with particular emphasis on the technology and communications sectors, as well as the Asian operations of multinational corporations.
Mr. Black holds a B.S. in International Economics with a concentration in Finance & Commerce from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

David L. Blond, Ph.D. | Principal Advisor
Dr. David Blond is an international trade economist with over 30 years of experience. Dr. Blond has broad experience in modeling economic data using multi-market and multi-commodity statistical techniques. He has developed large-scale global models covering macroeconomic, industrial, trade, and transportation specific concepts. Throughout his career, Dr. Blond has specialized in developing unique analytical frameworks designed to measure benefits against costs including risk based analysis techniques. These efforts have involved partial data sets, cleaning and filling in missing data, and developing quantitative analogues for qualitative factors.
Before joining MGI, Dr. Blond held various positions at other consulting firms including DRI/McGraw Hill, where he was Principal and Director of International Trade and Forecasting. Prior to consulting, Dr. Blond served as Senior Economist in the Department of Defense. He began his career with the United National Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.
Dr. Blond received both a Ph.D. in International Economics and an M.A. in Economics from New York University.

M. Fred Brown | Principal Advisor
Fred Brown has over 25 years of experience in financing, leasing and trading large commercial jet aircraft, high-bypass jet engines and aviation spare parts. Previously, Mr. Brown was a Managing Director at Blenheim Aviation, CIS Corporation and Itel Corporation, all transportation asset trading and leasing companies. Mr. Brown launched his career with Goldman Sachs & Co., where he became a Vice President in corporate finance. He holds both J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and is a member of the California Bar.

Ricardo Ernst, Ph.D. | Principal Advisor
Ricardo Ernst is a recognized expert in the field of global logistics and supply chain management. A widely published author and regular speaker at international conferences, Dr. Ernst is also a professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.
Dr. Ernst has authored a textbook on global operations management and logistics, and has published a number of research papers on various aspects of global logistics systems. Dr. Ernst's wide-ranging research is buttressed by practical experience gained by consulting to multinational firms coping with complex supply chain problems, especially in Latin America.
In addition to his teaching duties at Georgetown University, Dr. Ernst co-directs the program for the study of Global Logistics, and serves as area coordinator of the Operations and Information Management Group.
Dr. Ernst received his M.A. and his Ph.D. in operations and information management from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, before that he attended the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administraci'n in Venezuela where he earned his M.B.A.

Aaron J. Gellman, Ph.D. | Principal Advisor
Aaron Gellman is a noted transportation economist. His research and teaching include transportation economics and policy, the regulation of transportation, and the management and utilization of research and technology. Dr. Gellman joined the faculty of the Kellogg School of Management in 1992 as a professor of management and strategy. He also holds an appointment as professor of industrial engineering at the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. Dr. Gellman was the Director of the Transportation Center, Northwestern University, a position he assumed in January 1992 through August 2000. He founded and was formerly president of Gellman Research Associates, Inc., a consulting firm. He served 24 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous published papers and has served on government panels and committees, as well as corporate boards.

Wendell G. Gilland, Ph.D. | Principal Advisor
Wendell Gilland, an award-winning scholar and teacher, is a professor of operations, technology and innovation management at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research primarily focuses on the performance improvement gained by using multiple customer priorities, products designed for multiple markets, and multiple channels of distribution.
Previously, Dr. Gilland has worked at Monitor Company, where he applied business strategy methods to the strategic planning process for Fortune 500 clients, and at CSC Index, where he assisted large corporations in the development and implementation of reengineered business processes. In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Gilland is a senior editor for Production and Operations Management Journal. His research has been published in Operations Research, Naval Research Logistics, OR Letters, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Production and Operations Management Journal.
Dr. Gilland received his Ph.D. and M.B.A. from Stanford University and his A.B. from Harvard University.

Donald L. Hickey | Principal Advisor
Don Hickey is an aeronautical engineer with 45 years of air cargo and aerospace industry experience. Mr. Hickey was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Atlas Air from 1995 to 2001. He was responsible for 747 freighter ACMI contract sales, customer sales engineering and aircraft performance analysis. Prior to Atlas Air, Mr. Hickey held several positions with Boeing, including: program manager of the Wichita Aircraft Modification Center (freighter conversions), program manager of B-52 structural modification programs, project engineer for Apollo Lunar Landing Module and a flight test engineer for B-52 and KC-135 development programs.
Mr. Hickey holds a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Wichita State University.

Richard Holohan | Vice President
Richard Holohan, based in Washington, D.C., has over 10 years of experience analyzing companies from an equity perspective. Prior to joining MergeGlobal, Mr. Holohan was the equity analyst responsible for coverage of the Containers and Packaging industry at Citigroup Global Markets. He also has experience covering the Paper and Forest Products industry as well as Electric Utilities.
Mr. Holohan holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Policy Studies from Dickinson College.

Roger Koelsch | Associate
Roger Koelsch, based in Washington, D.C., has over 6 years of experience applying quantitative and qualitative tools to support strategic decision-making. His experience includes the development of complex models using statistical and computer modeling techniques. Prior to joining MergeGlobal, Mr. Koelsch was employed as an internal consultant for Deutsche Post World Net, where he completed projects in Europe and North America; and as a senior engineer at a leading scientific and engineering consulting firm, where he specialized in providing litigation support for disputes requiring failure analysis and accident reconstruction.
In addition to an M.B.A. from Georgetown University, Mr. Koelsch holds an M.S. in Hydrology from the University of Arizona and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He is fluent in English and German.

James Matheny | Principal Advisor
With over 45 years of experience as an airline COO, VP of Maintenance and Engineering, aircraft carrier commander and naval aviator, Mr. Matheny brings a wide array of expertise to the MergeGlobal team. In 1992, he worked along with Atlas Air's founder, Michael Chowdry, during the company's start-up process. He retired in 2003 from Atlas Air as President and Chief Operating Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Matheny was responsible for all aspects of flight, ground and technical operations of a 50-unit 747 freighter fleet. Previously, he was Vice President of Maintenance and Engineering at Eastern Airlines where he oversaw the liquidation of the estate, including disposition of aircraft, spare engines, tooling, equipment and facilities. He served as a U.S. Naval Officer and Aviator, where he commanded an aircraft carrier, replenishment ship, two carrier air wings and a carrier based squadron.
Mr. Matheny holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Washington University.

Edward P. (Ned) Moritz | Principal Advisor
Ned Moritz joined MergeGlobal as a Principal Advisor in 2008 and brings 30 years experience in multi-modal freight transportation. Mr. Moritz developed extensive expertise in marketing, pricing, and operations in the North American trucking sector, and in particular the less-than truckload segment, during his 20+ year tenure as a corporate level executive at Con-Way, Inc. and its predecessor companies. He has a deep understanding of multimodal freight transportation, having been instrumental in developing several new end-to-end multimodal product offerings during his career at Con-Way.
Mr. Moritz is a veteran of the US Air Force and holds a bachelors degree in transportation and an MBA in finance, both from the University of Maryland.

Donald Paynter | Principal Advisor
Don Paynter has over 30 years' experience in international lending and finance, specializing in financing transportation assets, cross border/tax related structuring, and treasury advisory. He successfully introduced the Danish tax-based leasing product to the international market where he was in charge of aircraft and container finance for Unibank A/S of Denmark. Mr. Paynter currently serves as Managing Director of Commodore Funding Corporation. Recent assignments have included advising a Japanese trading company in a US acquisition, assisting various clients with distressed asset acquisitions, and the private placement of debt and residual investments for transportation assets such as ships, containers, aircraft, and rail cars.
Mr. Paynter holds an Honors MBA from the University of Oregon, a BS in Accounting from the University of San Francisco, attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. He is fluent in English, Italian and Portuguese.

Patrick Pittman | Associate
Patrick Pittman, an Associate based in Washington, D.C., concentrates on transport network analysis and modeling. Mr. Pittman is responsible for assessing the integrity and meaningfulness of input data as well as designing and running models. Before joining MergeGlobal in 2003, he worked at a predecessor company to CACI AB. Mr. Pittman holds a B.A. from George Mason University. Mr. Pittman is fluent in English and French.

Theodore Prince | Principal Advisor
Ted Prince has 25 years of experience in the container shipping, railroad, and intermodal industries. His responsibilities have ranged across network operations, marketing, asset utilization, strategic planning and information technology.
Mr. Prince was formerly Vice President - Sales and Marketing at Kansas City Southern railroad. He was also a Senior Vice President for Optimization Alternatives Limited, a firm that develops and deploys large-scale control and decision support systems for railroads to manage day-to-day operations.
Previously, Mr. Prince was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of 'K' Line responsible for the management and profitability of the line's North American trades. He was also Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Rail-Bridge Corporation, 'K' Line's domestic inland subsidiary. Mr. Prince worked with 'K' Line America for ten years. Prior to that, Mr. Prince was with Conrail and its motor carrier subsidiary for nine years.
Mr. Prince is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, which awarded him a B.S. in Economics. He also received his M.S. in Transportation from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 1990.

Mark Rhoney | Principal Advisor
Mr. Rhoney is a 32-year veteran of the transportation and logistics business, with a broad base of operational, marketing, planning and transactional experience literally built from the ground up from his first job as a UPS package sorter in the mid-1970s until his retirement in 2007. During the latter part of his UPS career, Mr. Rhoney led the effort to develop a long-term service portfolio strategy for the U.S. small package business, as well as a plan to expand the profitable logistics service offerings of UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Under Mark's direction, UPS launched UPS Early AM, UPS Same Day, the Preferred Customer Program and the Service Parts Logistics product. His work encompassed line operations management, industrial engineering, facilities planning, e-commerce, marketing and ultimately strategic planning.
Mr. Rhoney attended The State University of New York at Buffalo with a major in Industrial Engineering and minors in Electrical Engineering and Psychology. Mr. Rhoney also received Executive Education at the Wharton School of Business.

JiQiang (Clement) Zhang, Ph.D. | Vice President
Clement Zhang, based in Washington D.C., has 5 years experience using highly quantitative techniques to solve complex business problems in consulting and industrial research settings. Much of his work at MergeGlobal focuses on network modeling and optimization. Prior to joining MergeGlobal in 2005, Dr. Zhang was a research and development manager for Lucent Technologies' wireless division in Beijing, China. Dr. Zhang holds an M.B.A. from Georgetown University and both a Ph.D. and B.S. in electrical engineering from Xi'an Jiao Tong University in China. He is fluent in English and Mandarin.