Executive Team
Thomas J. Gill
Chairman and CEO
Thomas J. Gill brings over twenty years of experience in operations, finance, and executive leadership to the CipherOptics team. Most recently Gill served as Managing Partner of SALTT Development Co., LLC and as Managing Partner of G4 Partners, LLC, an early stage private equity fund. From 1998 to 2000, Gill served as Chief Executive Officer and President of FORE Systems, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of high-speed networking equipment, after having served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer within the company, from 1993 to 1998. During his tenure, FORE Systems grew from a small start-up to a company with more than 2,000 employees and annual sales of $632 million.Gill has also served on the board of directors of several companies, including, Voltaire Limited, FreeMarkets, and WaveSmith Networks, Inc. He served on the board of trustees of Sewickley Academy, an independent college-preparatory day school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was appointed Vice Chair in 2004. Gill holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.
Jim Doherty
CMO and Sr. Vice President of Marketing
Jim Doherty brings to CipherOptics 17 years of engineering and marketing experience across a broad range of networking and communication technologies. Focusing on message simplification and marketing execution, Doherty leads the CipherOptics marketing strategy, direction and personnel.
Prior to joining CipherOptics, Doherty held leadership positions with Symbol Technologies, Cisco Systems and Ericsson Mobile Phones. His marketing experience includes leading vertical marketing and technology solution teams. He has lead marketing campaigns on several technologies including Security, IP Telephony, Routing and Switching.
Doherty is the co-author of the "Networking Simplified" series of books from Cisco Press, which includes the titles Cisco Networking Simplified, Home Networking Simplified, and several other titles. Doherty is a former Marine Corps Sergeant. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from N.C. State University and an MBA from Duke University.
Scott Palmquist
Senior Vice President of Product Management
Scott Palmquist has extensive experience in developing and implementing large-scale, mission-critical network systems. Before joining CipherOptics, Palmquist directed market education for Cisco's Mobile Wireless Group and led the team evangelizing convergence of IBM SNA and Cisco IP networking. Before joining Cisco, Palmquist held key management positions at several information technology industry companies, including McDATA Corporation, NCR Corporation and Sperry Defense Systems.
At CipherOptics, Palmquist leads the development team delivering high speed network security. Palmquist received his B.A. in Business, from the University of St. Thomas in 1983. He currently serves as the co-chair of the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) Defense and Security committee and served on the Fibre Channel Industry Association board of directors in 1999.
Kirk Wrigley
Senior Vice President of Sales
Kirk Wrigley brings to CipherOptics over 20 years of experience leading sales and business development efforts for some of the most influential technology companies in the industry. He has served as Vice President of Sales at many successful start-up companies including FORE Systems, Argon, Cacheflow and Cognio, successfully driving sales and revenue while providing executive leadership. Most recently he led the sales and business development efforts of Replicate Technology, a pioneer in fault isolation and management of Data Center operations. In addition, he serves as an advisory board member for several technology companies.
Wrigley brings with him, both international and domestic experience selling to Fortune 1000 customers and Federal agencies. He holds a Bachelors degree from George Mason University and a Masters degree from Catholic University.