Mr. Mims founded Academy Securities in 2009 and provides overall leadership, strategy, and direction as Academy’s Chief Executive Officer and majority controlling shareholder. Immediately prior to launching Academy Securities, Mr. Mims founded and led a San Diego, California- based boutique real estate brokerage, mortgage, and property management firm. For a period of five years with that firm, Mr. Mims focused on investing in, advising on, financing, and managing real estate assets throughout the United States. Earlier in his civilian career, Mr. Mims was an executive and project manager at Home Depot. While with Home Depot he led a Six Sigma non-continental store profitability project that resulted in millions of dollars in annualized savings. Also at Home Depot, Mr. Mims was a regional project manager for a $400 million capital investment that resulted in an 80% increase in comparable store sales.
Previously, Mr. Mims served as a naval officer onboard the USS SENTRY MCM-3 and the USS JOHN PAUL JONES DDG-53 guided missile destroyer enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq and taking part in the initial strikes into Afghanistan during OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM.
Mr. Mims holds a BS in Economics from the US Naval Academy and an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Mr. Mims is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and holds his FINRA Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses.
Mr. McConkey is the President and a Partner at Academy, responsible for overall leadership and overseeing daily operations, as well as business development and equities. Following careers in the military and the National Football League, Mr. McConkey embarked on a financial services career that has spanned over two decades. He has experience in the fields of asset management, trading, alternative investment strategies, and investment banking. He has worked for firms such as Wells Fargo Bank, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas. Mr. McConkey played six years in the NFL following his military service and is best remembered for his touchdown catch in Super Bowl XXI for the New York Giants. He also played for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, and San Diego Chargers. In addition, he was a broadcaster for the New York Giants, CBS Sports, and FOX NY, where he won two New York Sports Emmys for his work on “Giants Today.”
Mr. McConkey holds a B.S. in Engineering from the US Naval Academy. He also has FINRA Series 7, 24, 63, 65 and 55 licenses.
Mr. Graham is Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and a Partner at Academy contributing overall leadership while overseeing all treasury and general operations. Mr. Graham joined Academy Securities from Academy Properties Inc. where he was a Partner, managing all real estate brokerage transactions, mortgage origination, and property management operations firm-wide. Previously, Mr. Graham worked for Lehman Brothers, Inc. as a Sales Associate in fixed income trading, specializing in bond and credit default swap transactions on behalf of institutional clients.
Prior to this, he was a Commissioned Officer of the United States Navy and served as a Division Officer on board the USS JOHN PAUL JONES DDG 53 guided missile destroyer and USS THACH FFG 43 guided missile frigate where he completed two deployments to the Persian Gulf enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq.
Mr. Graham is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School. He holds his FINRA Series 7, 24, 27, 52, 53 and 63 licenses.
Ms. Schlein in an active angel investor and advisor to a number of startup companies across multiple different business sectors. Her focus has been in consumer-driven software and hardware technologies as well as lifestyle consumer products. Her expertise lies in branding and brand management, product development, and product marketing. Ms. Schlein started her career immediately after college working on the original Macintosh team at Apple and remained in Silicon Valley for 24 years working at a number of cutting-edge technology businesses. She was VP of Research & Development for Hasbro Inc., and in management at Apple twice, Momenta Corporation and T-Maker. She consulted for Life Technologies, Sanford Burnham Medical Discovery Institute, and Interval Research (a Paul Allen Think Tank).
Ms. Schlein was a Board Member of: Logoworks (sold to HP), Skullcandy (IPO), Dotspotter (sold to CBS). Ms. Schlein sits on the Boards of the Trustee Council for Penn Women (TCPW) and the Track Alumni Board, and Stance’s (a consumer lifestyle business) Innovation Board of Advisors. Ms. Schlein has a BA in American History from The University of Pennsylvania, where she was the Captain of Penn’s Cross Country and Track Team with 8 Varsity letters, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Greenwood brings over 30 years of investment banking and compliance expertise to the firm. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Pickwick Capital Partners LLC, a FINRA-SIPC registered broker/dealer. Prior to Pickwick, Mr. Greenwood was Managing Director of Investment Banking and subsequently President at Trautman Wasserman & Co., Inc. Earlier in his career, he worked at Alex Brown & Sons Inc. and its successor firm Deutsche Bank Alex Brown. Mr. Greenwood finished his tenure there as Managing Director in the corporate executive services group.
Mr. Greenwood earned a BA from Princeton University and holds his Series 4, 7, 24, 52, 63, 79 and 99 licenses.
Advisory Board
Matthew E. Zames is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and President of Cerberus Capital Management.
Prior to being named President of Cerberus Capital Management in April of 2018, Mr. Zames served as the Chief Operating Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from April 28, 2013 until August 10, 2017. In his role as COO, his responsibilities included the firm’s Chief Investment Office (CIO), the Oversight and Control Group, Compliance, Treasury & Funding, Mortgage Banking Capital Markets, One Equity Partners, Corporate Strategy, Regulatory Affairs, Global Technology and Operations, Real Estate, Procurement, Security & Safety, General Services, and Military & Veteran Affairs. Mr. Zames was co-COO from July 2012 until April of 2013 when he assumed the full COO position. Previously, he was Chief Investment Officer of JPMorgan Chase and served as its Co-Head of Global Fixed Income and Head of Capital Markets. He served as the Head of Mortgage Banking Capital Markets since January 2012.
Before joining JPMorgan in 2004, Mr. Zames worked at Credit Suisse, where he was co-head of Global Dollar Interest Rate Trading, a member of the Fixed Income Operating Committee, and the Credit Suisse First Boston Management Council.
Mr. Zames is on the MIT Sloan Finance Group Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. He also is a member of The Economic Club of New York and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves on the Board of Directors of Guiding Eyes for the Blind and also serves on the Board of Directors of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). Mr. Zames is a former Board Co-Chairman of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University and previously was a member of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee and a former Chairman. He also was a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Treasury Market Practices Group.
Mr. Zames graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and children.
Advisor
Wendy B. Lawrence is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Ms. Lawrence is a former NASA astronaut who has logged over 1225 hours in space as a mission specialist and was a veteran of four space flights. A retired United States Navy Captain, Ms. Lawrence was a helicopter pilot with more than 1,500 hours of flight time in six different types of helicopters and made more than 800 shipboard landings. She is the first female graduate of the United States Naval Academy to fly into space after being selected by NASA in March 1992. While an astronaut, she visited the Russian Space Station Mir and was a mission specialist on STS-114, the first Space Shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Ms. Lawrence received a Bachelor of Science degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981. She also received a Master of Science degree in ocean engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in 1988. She was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the NASA Space Flight Medal.
Janie L. Mines is the SVP of Inclusion and Innovation and an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Ms. Mines is a former naval officer who was the first African-American woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, where she earned a Bachelor of Science. She graduated in 1980 after serving in several leadership positions in the Brigade of Midshipmen. She was later selected to participate in the prestigious Sloan Fellows Program, where she earned an MBA from the Alfred P. Sloan School of Business Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ms. Mines held positions of increasing responsibility, as a Navy Supply Corps officer and in several corporations including Procter & Gamble, Pepsi (Frito-Lay), Hershey Foods, and Bank of America negotiating deals in excess of $10B. She is currently an independent executive management consultant focusing on Strategic Planning, Change Management, Quality and Productivity, Integrated Business Transformation, and Program Management serving nonprofits, government and Fortune 500 corporations.
Ms. Mines served as the Sr. Advisor, Business Process, Senior Executive Service (HQE-SES) in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. She facilitated Flag Officers and Senior Executive Service leadership in the implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and the resulting transformational programs across the Department of the Navy. She currently serves on the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).
Ms. Mines founded and managed a non-profit organization for over 10 years, Boyz to Men Club, Inc, after observing the needs of adolescent boys in the community. Her awards include National Women of Color in Business Award winner, Olympic Torchbearer, Civic Volunteer of the Year, 9 Who Care Award winner for the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, and a South Carolina Black History Honoree. She received a Congressional Record Proclamation for her service. Ms. Mines has served as a member of the Rotary Club International, the Board of Directors of the Founders Federal Credit Union, and the Board of the Springs Close Foundation. She is the author of No Coincidences – Reflections of the First Black Female Graduate of the United States Naval Academy.
Ms. Mines has maintained her relationship with the Naval Academy throughout the decades and was selected as a Distinguished Graduate for her outstanding service. She continues to positively impact the lives of midshipmen and naval officers through her mentorship and ongoing support.
Major General James A. “Spider” Marks is Head of Geopolitical Strategy and Academy Securities’ Senior Advisory Board Member. General Marks is the Founder and President of The Marks Collaborative, an advisory for corporate leader development, education and training and has led entrepreneurial efforts in global primary research and national security. He served over 30 years in the Army holding every command position from infantry platoon leader to commanding general and was the senior intelligence officer in the LA Riots, the Balkans, Korea, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He culminated his career as the Commanding General of the US Army Intelligence Center and School at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf cluster, Bronze Star, and multiple combat, expeditionary and service ribbons. General Marks is a Master parachutist, authorized to wear Korean and Canadian Airborne wings, Air Assault qualified, and Honor Graduate of the US Army Ranger School. General Marks is a national security contributor to CNN and member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Robert S. Walsh is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Lieutenant General Walsh served in the Marine Corps for over 35 years, completing his career as the Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and the Deputy Commandant for Combat Development & Integration. In his last assignment, he was responsible for strategic planning and executing the reorganization of the Marine Corps to meet the new National Defense Strategy roles and missions. His responsibilities included integrating multiple warfighting functions and domains across all military services and the Department of Defense. Previously, he served as the Assistant Deputy Commandant for Aviation, the Assistant Deputy Commandant for Combat Development & Integration, and the Director of Expeditionary Warfare, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In these assignments, he was responsible for managing numerous vital warfare systems. Lieutenant General Walsh’s operational and joint assignments included serving as the Commanding General, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) Iraq and the Director of Operations, United States Northern Command.
Lieutenant General Walsh has served as the Co-Chairman of both the Navy-Marine Corps and Army-Marine Corps Boards along with being Co-Chairman of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – Marine Corps Investment Board and the Office of Naval Research – Marine Corps Investment Board.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Lieutenant General Walsh is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds a Master of Science in National Security Studies from the National War College. He served as an F/A-18 pilot at all levels to include commanding Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, Marine Aircraft Group 31, and 2d Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. He was an instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as TOPGUN. He has received several writing awards. Additionally, Lieutenant General Walsh has testified before Congress on subjects such as modernization, acquisition, readiness and training of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Leslie Beavers is an Academy Securities Advisory Board Member and Brigadier General in the U. S. Air Force Reserves.
Prior to joining Academy Securities, Ms. Beavers was the Deputy Director of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise Capabilities for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. She co-led the transformation and modernization of the Nation’s multi-billion dollar annual investment in Defense Intelligence Enterprise infrastructure from Jan 2018 to April 2020. Previously, Ms. Beavers led the Defense Contract Management Agency’s number one priority to identify, correct and control enterprise Information Technology resources and acquisitions processes. Responsible for decomposing and justifying the Agency’s information technology and integration $200M annual budget for their 234 acquisition programs.
Before transitioning to full time government work, Ms. Beavers worked for Universal Pictures, where she was Vice President of Asset Recovery, recreating the 80 years of NBC/Universal’s film and television content destroyed by fire on the Studio Backlot in 2007.
Ms. Beavers is a GE Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Has years of independent consulting experience for major corporations in the Oil & Gas, Entertainment, Healthcare and Defense industries. She graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1991 and currently serves as a Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
Lieutenant General Frank Kearney is an Academy Securities' Advisory Board Member.
Lieutenant General Frank Kearney served 35 years in the United States Army as an Infantry and Special Operations officer. Most recently, LTG Kearney served as the Deputy Director for Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counter-Terrorism Center in Washington, DC. In this position, LTG Kearney was responsible for whole-of-government planning with over 29 Inter-Agency partners to achieve the strategic end states outlined in the Obama Administration’s National Counter-Terrorism Strategy. LTG Kearney has been appointed to the U.S. House of Representatives House Armed Services Committee National Defense Panel, the U.S. Secretary of Defense’s WMD Threat Reduction Advisory Committee, and the Iran Project. Previously, LTG Kearney was the Deputy Commander of the United States Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida responsible for a $9.3 billion dollar budget execution, and for overseeing, training and equipping 62,000 Special Operations forces from all four Services from July 2007 to July 2010. He commanded all Theater Special Operations Forces in Central Command Area of Responsibility from 2005-2007, before which he served as commander of the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-Former Regime Elements in Baghdad, Iraq. LTG Kearney has been recognized with the Distinguished Intelligence Service Medal and two awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal as well as multiple awards for combat and military service. He sits on the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (TRAC). LTG Kearney also chairs the board of Team Red White and Blue, a non-profit organization that seeks to reintegrate military veterans with traumatic brain injuries and Post Traumatic Shock Disorder back into their local communities using sports and outreach.
LTG Kearney is a 1976 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, has a Master’s in Education from the University of South Carolina and is a graduate of the United States Army War College.
Lieutenant General Rhett Hernandez is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Lieutenant General Hernandez served in the United States Army for 39 Years and was the first Commander of Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER), where he was responsible for the daily operations, defense and risk management of all Army networks with 1.2 million users. As the Army’s lead for all cyberspace activity, Lieutenant General Hernandez built a cyber force of more than 17,000 people and led the development of a wide range of concepts, plans and programs to minimize cyber risk and ensure Army operations. Lieutenant General Hernandez previously served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Army Operations; Chief, U.S. Military Training Mission, Saudi Arabia; and Commanding General, Human Resources Command. In all three positions, he was involved in key issues and decisions at the highest levels.
Lieutenant General Hernandez serves as the West Point Cyber Chair to the Army Cyber Institute, as well as President of CyberLens, LLC. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy, West Point, a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia and a Masters of National Security Strategy from the National War College where he was named a distinguished graduate. He was an Assistant Professor for Probability and Statistics at the United States Military Academy and has published articles on leadership and cyber topics.
Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward, Jr. is an Academy Securities' Advisory Board Member.
Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward, Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer for Lockheed Martin in the UAE and lives in Abu Dhabi. In this role, Vice Admiral Harward is responsible for all aspects of the company’s business interests in the UAE, including strategy, operations, and growth of Lockheed Martin programs, as well as successful execution of all ongoing business. A National Security Expert, in both theory and application, he served on the National Security Council for the Bush administration, commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center, and has extensive combat experience as a US Navy SEAL, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Bosnia. A US Naval Academy alumni, Vice Admiral Harward holds a Masters degree in International Security Affairs, and is a graduate of the Naval War College and the MIT Foreign Policy Program. Vice Admiral Harward also served as an executive fellow at RAND. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, he was a Vice Admiral (SEAL) in the United States Navy, with his last assignment as Deputy Commander, US Central Command (USCENTCOM). Vice Admiral Harward also grew up in Iran, graduated from the Tehran American School and speaks Farsi.
Vice Admiral Harward’s significant recognitions include the Donovan Award from the CIA, the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of State, the German Silver Star, the Polish Silver Star, and he was designated a Commander of the Polish GROM (Special Operation Forces). The Department of Defense awarded Vice Admiral Harward the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (three), the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star with V device (four), and the Presidential Unit Citation (two) for combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Vice Admiral Harward was also recognized with the US Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award 2013.
Vice Admiral Harward is also a contributor to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), serves as an adjunct to RAND, is an advisor to Draper Labs, a member of the Naval Mutual Aid Association and serves on the Board of Channel products.
Edward M. Straw is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and the founder and managing partner of Osprey Venture Partners—a firm that finds investment capital and assists with business development for startup entrepreneurs. He is the retired President, Global Operations of The Estee Lauder Companies, and currently sits on the boards of the following companies: Performance Equity Management, Odyssey Logistics, Helius Medical Technologies, Capital Teas and Document Capture Technologies. He is the Chairman of Odyssey Logistics. As President, Global Operations for Estee Lauder, Mr. Straw centralized and led Lauder’s R&D, package engineering, acquisition, manufacturing, distribution, inventory management, and information systems organizations which supported 20 Estee Lauder Companies around the world. In his five years at Estee Lauder, he is credited with directing significant improvements in their global supply chain and driving major stock price impactful savings to the bottom line.
Prior to joining the Estee Lauder Companies, he was Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management at the $40 billion Compaq Computer Corporation in Houston.
Before joining Compaq in late 1998, Mr. Straw was President of Miami-based Ryder Integrated Logistics—then the leading provider of third-party supply chain services in North America.
Prior to joining the private sector, Mr. Straw had a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a three-star admiral in 1996. Vice Admiral Straw culminated his military service from 1992-1996 as the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency, the nation’s only combat logistics support agency and primary provider of global supply chain material and services support for America’s armed forces. He reported directly to the Under Secretary of Defense (AT&L), Dr. Paul Kaminski, and General Colin Powell, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Admiral Straw also held numerous operational and policy leadership positions at the Navy’s major logistics commands—and was Navy’s lead for logistics planning and execution of material and ordnance support to Navy and Marine Corps forces during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-91.
Admiral Straw received multiple awards throughout his career, including Defense, Navy/Marine Corps and Air Force Distinguished Service Medals, the Ford Foundation’s Innovations in American Government Award and the Society of Logistics Engineers’ Founders Medal. He is a distinguished graduate of the United States Navy Supply Corps School and recipient of the Navy Supply Corps’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
Admiral Straw holds a Master of Business Administration degree from The George Washington University, a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, and is a graduate of the National War College.
In addition to the boards listed above, he is a Trustee of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, a member of the Department of Defense Science Board, and has served on the Board of Directors of Eddie Bauer, MeadWestvaco, Panther Expedited Services, the Navy Federal Credit Union, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Boy Scouts of America. He has also served in an advisory role to the IBM Federal Group and PRTM Management Consultants.
Admiral Straw is currently working with a group of patriots to regain medical benefits for “Blue Water” Vietnam veterans suffering from Agent Orange-related diseases.
Admiral Straw has three daughters—Silvana, Meg, and Katie. He resides in New York City and Annapolis, Maryland with his wife, Christine.
Rear Admiral (Ret.) Caesar is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and a Surface Warfare Officer who earned his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977. He also holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from the College of William & Mary. Admiral Caesar is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow in Foreign Politics, International Relations, and the National Interest. During Admiral Caesar’s period of initial active service, his sea duty assignments included USS Dale (CG 19) and USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) where he served in the Engineering, Weapons, and Operations Departments.
Admiral Caesar transitioned to the Reserve Component in 1983. He has held a variety of assignments including battle watch director for Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet; area air defense commander, Atlantic; and deputy commander, Navy Reserve Readiness Command, Mid-Atlantic. He has commanded four Reserve units including, Personnel Mobilization Team 3106; Surface Warfare Development Group; OPNAV Surface Warfare Division; and, Naval Inspector General Detachment 106.
Active duty assignments include Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Joint Forces Command; Chief of Naval Operations Transition Team; Commander, Navy Installations Command; Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet; Naval War College; OPNAV Surface Warfare Division; Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center Atlantic; and, NATO exercises in the European and Pacific theatres.
Admiral Caesar’s first Flag assignment was Reserve deputy, Commander Navy Installations Command, Washington, D.C.
Before his final assignment as the Reserve deputy director, J7, Joint and Coalition Warfighting, Caesar served as vice director, Joint Concept Development and Experimentation, J9, U.S. Joint Forces Command, in Suffolk, Va.
Admiral Caesar’s personal decorations include the Legion of Merit (two awards), Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards), and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Caesar was awarded the Blacks in Government Meritorious Service Award. He is also a member of the Secretary of Defense Reserve Forces Policy Board.
Major General Clarence K.K. Chinn is an Academy Securities’ Board Member.
Major General Chinn brings decades of experience to Academy’s Advisory Board, having served in the U.S. Army for over 36 years. He most recently served as Commander, U.S. Army South, where he was responsible for the conduct and support of multinational operations and security operations in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility (31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Central/South America and the Caribbean) in order to counter transregional transnational threat networks and strengthen regional security in defense of the homeland. Prior to this assignment, Major General Chinn served as the Deputy Commander for United States Army Special Operations Command, as the Senior Commander at Fort Bragg, a $32 billion dollar industry for North Carolina annually, and Commanding General at Fort Polk, LA.
Major General Chinn is a 1981 graduate of the United States Military Academy and holds a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. He has served as an Infantry officer, commanding at every level, with extensive time serving with Airborne / Ranger units. Currently residing in Aiea, Hawaii, Major General Chinn has been assisting United States Army Pacific with their Regional Leader Development Program – Pacific.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) David A. Deptula is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Lieutenant General Deptula served in the United States Air Force for more than 34 years where he took part in operations, planning, and command leadership at the most senior levels. He was the principal attack planner for the 1991 Operation Desert Storm air campaign, commander of no-fly-zone operations over Iraq in the late 1990s, and director of the air campaign over Afghanistan in 2001. Additionally, Lieutenant General Deptula was twice a joint task force commander and was the air commander for the 2005 South Asia tsunami relief operations. His last assignment was as the Air Force’s first deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), where he transformed America’s military ISR and drone enterprises.
Lieutenant General Deptula serves as the Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in Arlington, Virginia, and is a Senior Military Scholar at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is a fighter pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours (400 in combat) including multiple command assignments in the F-15. Defense News Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in U.S. defense in 2014.
Danelle Barrett is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral. Ms. Barrett served as Director of Current Operations at U.S. Cyber Command and assumed duties in 2017 as the Navy Cyber Security Division Director and Deputy Chief Information Officer on the Chief of Naval Operations staff. In her last position in the U.S. Navy, she led the Navy’s strategic development and execution of digital and cyber security efforts, enterprise information technology improvements and cloud policy, and governance for over 700,000 personnel across a global network. She is one of less than 200 women in history to achieve the U.S. Naval rank of admiral.
Rear Admiral Barrett is a graduate of Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts in History where she received her commission as an officer from the U. S. Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. She holds Masters of Arts in Management, National Security Strategic Studies, and Human Resources Development. She also earned a Master of Science in Information Management. Ms. Barrett has several military decorations including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Women in Technology Leadership Award, and the Executive Women’s Forum Women of Influence Award. She has published 40 articles on cyber, technology, innovation, and leadership. Her book, “Rock the Boat: Encourage Innovation, Lead Change and Be a Successful Leader” was released in June 2021.
General Manager, Microsoft Cloud Supply Chain
Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and the founder of Oakleaf Software. ‘Oakleaf’ is a cloud-based enterprise software company with a focus on planning and supply chain tools for the public and private sectors. Oakleaf also consults on a variety of comprehensive issues in the US and Canada, to include support to federal, state, and local governments.
Prior to founding Oakleaf Software, Admiral Heinrich was a General Manager at Microsoft, where he led a supply chain and logistics effort focused on building Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud. He was previously the CEO of AAMSI, an aerospace manufacturing & repair firm located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Additionally, he was a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, a global performance improvement and turnaround firm, where he led the public sector business unit.
Admiral Heinrich is a 1979 graduate of the Naval Academy with a BS in Engineering. Admiral Heinrich also holds an MBA from the University of Kansas, as well as a Master of Science in Petroleum Management. Following graduation from the Naval Academy, he served for over 30 years as a Supply Corps Officer. In his final assignment in the Navy, he served as the Commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) and the 46th Chief of Supply Corps.
In addition, Heinrich commanded the Defense Logistics Agency’s aviation center of excellence in Richmond, Virginia, and served as the Director of Operations (J-3) of the Defense Logistics Agency in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In 2008, Heinrich deployed to the Middle East as Director of the United States Central Command’s Deployment and Distribution Operations Center in Kuwait, where he applied deployment and distribution expertise to plan and execute joint & combined force military operations.
President and CEO of TRGSolutions and an Academy Securities' Advisory Board Member.
A native of the Carolinas, Mastin Robeson was commissioned in 1975 and served over 34 years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, during which time he served in more than 60 countries. He retired from the Marine Corps in February 2010. Major General Robeson served in combat zones in Liberia, Desert Storm, Somalia, Bosnia, Horn of Africa, Southern Philippines, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He commanded at every operational level in the Marine Corps, including its Anti-Terrorism unit, an infantry battalion, an infantry regiment, a counter-terrorism task force in combat, two Marine Expeditionary Brigades, two Marine Divisions, and the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. He served as Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and as General Dave Petraeus’ Director of Strategy, Plans, and Assessments in Iraq, where he was responsible for writing and assessing the 2007 Crocker/Petraeus surge campaign plan.
He is an honor graduate of the Marine Corps Basic School, Amphibious Warfare School and Command & Staff College, a graduate of Bryan College, and completed the Army’s Advanced Operational Arts Studies Fellowship. He also instructed at the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School and at the Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies.
Since 2010, Mastin has been President and CEO of TRGSolutions, a consulting firm that has assisted more than 27 companies in business development, marketing strategy and planning, executive leadership and decision-making, and crisis management. Mastin serves as the Chairman of the Board of Upstate Warrior Solutions (non-profit assisting veterans and their families in the Upstate of South Carolina) and as President of UASidekick (a UAS software application company). He also speaks on leadership and corporate culture transformation, and he continues to support studies and education efforts in Africa, the Middle East, South America and the Pacific Rim.
Mastin previously served as the President and CEO of Imperatis Corp. in Arlington Virginia, as a member of the Greenville Health System’s Operations Council, as a senior advisor to Royal TenCate, as a senior advisor to Developing Alternatives Incorporated, on several Boards of Directors and Boards of Advisors, and on a college Board of Trustees.
Mastin is married to his college sweetheart of 46 years and has four children and ten grandchildren.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Vincent R. Stewart is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Lieutenant General Stewart served in the United States Marine Corps for over 35 years. He most recently served as Deputy Commander, U.S. Cyber Command. Prior to this assignment, Lieutenant General Stewart served as the 20th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, by way of Kingston, Jamaica, Lieutenant General Stewart graduated from Western Illinois University, earning his commission in 1981. He has served as an armor officer and subsequently as a signals intelligence and intelligence officer, commanding at every level. Lieutenant General Stewart earned master’s degrees in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, Newport, R.I. and in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
Lieutenant General Stewart’s military decorations include: the Defense Superior Service Medal; the Legion of Merit with one gold star; the Bronze Star; the Meritorious Service Medal with one gold star; the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, with two gold stars; the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal; the Combat Action Ribbon; the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal; and various unit awards.
Lieutenant General Stewart retired from the U.S. Marine Corps at the Marine Barracks Washington on April 5, 2019.
Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata is an Academy Securities' Advisory Board Member.
Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata (U.S. Army, retired) is a cross functional leader involved in an array of successful business ventures including aviation cargo, cold supply chain and home medical care. Previously, he performed the duties of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, the #3 position in the United States Department of Defense. His leadership in DoD included implementing the National Defense Strategy and working closely with allies and partners to achieve strategic defense goals globally. His distinguished military career includes commands in the 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne Divisions and the 10th Mountain Division as well as operations in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Panama, and Haiti. He served as the deputy director of the Joint Improvised Device Defeat Organization leading the effort to find creative solutions to defeat IED networks in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan while also training the force to fight on a complex battlefield. In his civilian life, Mr. Tata has served as Secretary of Transportation for the state of North Carolina with its 62 airports, 2 seaports, 22 ferries, 88,000 miles of highway, and 3 railroads. He also led Wake County Public School System to unprecedented gains as superintendent in charge of 150,000 students and 170 schools and served as chief operating officer of Washington, DC Public Schools. In addition to supply chain and medical technology, Mr. Tata is also focused on maritime real estate, asset management software solutions, special needs education software, cybersecurity, and oil/gas infrastructure. He is also the bestselling author of 14 novels and a frequent guest commentator on a variety of cable news channels regarding foreign policy. Tony presently serves on the board of advisors of Academy Securities, and recently served on the boards of the North Carolina Heroes Fund, Spectacular Solar (publicly traded), and Sabrewing Aircraft Company in addition to the North Carolina Ports Authority, Global TransPark, and Turnpike Boards. He has two amazing adult children and resides in North Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife Laura and their dogs Snowy and Bandit.
Drew Wolff – Advisor
Mr. Wolff is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Mr. Wolff is the former Treasurer of Starbucks Coffee Company as well as CFO of their International and Channel Development divisions, serving in this capacity from 2014 to 2020. Mr. Wolff has over 20 years of experience in senior financial and strategic planning roles in large retail banks with operations worldwide. Most recently, Mr. Wolff served as a Director at the Seattle Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Mr. Wolff also worked at Washington Mutual and Barclays in London. He is currently an Audit Committee Member at BECU Credit Union in Washington.
Mr. Wolff holds degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Michigan. Before entering the business world, he served as a Naval officer on board several nuclear submarines.
Christopher Perkins is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member. He comes to the Firm’s Advisory Board after a 13-year career at Citigroup as a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Futures, Clearing and FX Prime Brokerage. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Mr. Perkins’ nine-year military career included service in Iraq during the Global War on Terrorism. He founded Citigroup’s Military Veterans Networks and is the co-founder of “Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS),” an initiative dedicated to honoring former and current military personnel by facilitating career and business opportunities in the financial services industry. Mr. Perkins also recently launched Veterans In Digital Assets (VIDA), a non-profit initiative focused on identifying employment opportunities for veterans in the digital asset and crypto space. Additionally, Mr. Perkins is the President of CoinFund, a diverse investment firm focused on digital assets and decentralized technologies.
Mr. Perkins graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, with distinction, and earned a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from Georgetown University.
Mr. Grano is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and Chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC. He was previously the Chairman and CEO of UBS Financial Services Inc. (formerly UBS PaineWebber). Mr. Grano was instrumental in helping to bring about the merger of PaineWebber with UBS in 2000. Prior to joining PaineWebber he was with Merrill Lynch for 16 years, holding various senior management positions including Director of National Sales. In 1987, Mr. Grano was named the industry’s best retail marketing executive in a survey conducted by Investment Dealers’ Digest. He was the former Chairman of the Board of Governors of NASD and a member of the NASD’s Executive Committee. Mr. Grano was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 to serve as the Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council and he served in this capacity until August 2005.
Mr. Grano holds honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Pepperdine University and Babson College as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Queens College. In addition to being one of the financial service industry’s leading executives, he is involved in a wide range of educational and philanthropic endeavors.
Mr. Grano also served in the U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets). He is the author of the book “You Can’t Predict A Hero” which was on BusinessWeek’s best seller list in 2009.
Mr. Rusate is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and President & Founder of Rusate Capital Management.
Mr. Rusate is a Former Managing Director at the General Electric Company where he was the Treasurer of GE’s largest division, Power. He also had responsibility for foreign exchange and commodity risk management as well as sovereign risk. Additionally, Mr. Rusate served on the GE Pension Trust Asset Allocation Committee.
Prior to his positions at GE, Mr. Rusate spent the first 8 years of his career with Union Carbide in various International Treasury assignments. Mr. Rusate was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance in June 2007 by Treasury & Risk Magazine. He served two terms as a Foreign Exchange Sub-Committee member of the New York Federal Reserve. Additionally, Mr. Rusate is a past President of the National Association of Credit Management. Mr. Rusate’s Trade Request System (TRS) was the 2003 winner of the Euro Finance Treasury Excellence Award. The natural gas simulator he co-developed won the 2006 Alexander Hamilton Award.
Mr. Rusate graduated from Quinnipiac College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in International Finance. Mr. Rusate resides in Naples, Florida.
Mr. Lyons has worked in the financial services industry for over 25 years. After receiving his MBA from University of Chicago in 1987, he went to Merrill Lynch where he worked on the Debt Capital Markets desk. During his 22 year career at Merrill Lynch he held a variety of debt origination positions, including Global Head of Debt Capital Markets from 2001 through 2005. His final position at Merrill was Vice Chairman in Investment Banking. While at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Lyons served on the board of Merrill Lynch Leasing Company and the Cayman Island Branch of Merrill Lynch Bank. From 2010 until 2013, Mr. Lyons worked at Knight Capital Group. Initially, Mr. Lyons ran the Debt Origination business but was soon promoted to Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the Fixed Income Division. The Knight Fixed Income Division included both a sales and trading operation as well as a mortgage company. At Knight, Mr. Lyons served on the firm’s executive committee. Currently, Mr. Lyons has a consulting practice that advises other securities firms on their fixed income operations.
Mr. Lyons has a BA in Economics from Hamilton College and a Masters of Science in Accounting from NYU.
Edward Adler is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member and head of the US credit investment platform for GreenOak Real Estate.
Before joining GreenOak, Mr. Adler ran the US Commercial Real Estate Group for Deutsche Bank. Earlier in his career, Mr. Adler ran the Asian Real Estate Finance and Securitization businesses for Deutsche Bank Securities in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Adler has also worked at Citigroup as their Head of Americas and the Asian Real Estate Finance business for their Fixed Income Division.
Mr. Adler graduated with honors from Union College with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. Additionally, Mr. Adler is an adjunct professor at Columbia’s School of Real Estate Development Program.
Mr. Adler serves on the board of The Catalog for Giving, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of New York City children by identifying and providing crucial funding and operational support to emerging innovative community-based organizations that assist underserved youth throughout New York City.
Mr. Clarke is an Academy Securities’ Advisory Board Member.
Mr. Clarke is a former Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Securities. Mr. Clarke joined J.P. Morgan in 1977 and held various management positions at the firm over his 41+ year tenure. His career began in institutional sales and moved to the underwriting desk in 1982 which he headed from 1984 to 2009. From 2009 to 2017, Mr. Clarke was Vice Chairman of Public Finance.
Mr. Clarke served two terms on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board of which he was Chairman from 2009 to 2010. Mr. Clarke is a Past President of the Municipal Bond Club of New York, served on the Municipal Forum of New York Board, and is currently a FINRA arbitrator.
Mr. Clarke received a B.A. from the University of Virginia.