Candidate for
Board Member; Cupertino Union School District

The list that you've already seen is just a snapshot of my background, but I hope it gives you the sense of what I can offer this district - an experienced, committed leader who is dedicated to children's education.

After graduating from our local schools, I earned two degrees in engineering from UC Berkeley. While at Berkeley, I met my wife of 22 years, Stephanie. Stephanie is a 3rd grade teacher at Garden Gate elementary. Our three children are Alex (18), a freshman Chemistry major at UC Berkeley (do you see a pattern?!?), Greg (14), a freshman at Monta Vista, and Natalie (11), a sixth grader at Garden Gate. My mom, Rose Tyson, is a retired teacher in the district, having served 28 years.

In my professional life, I have led teams in R&D, manufacturing, and business (having earned a recent MBA from San Jose State). For the last five years I have worked at ALZA, a developer of drug delivery technologies, and lead a team of about 50 people in Supply Chain Management. Not only have I led people, I've had experience in managing budgets as well as capital projects, I hold two US patents, and have helped bring some very exciting new pharmaceuticals to market.

In addition to family and work, I have spent my whole adult life in service to my community - including over seven years with the Second Harvest Food Bank (in Contra Costa), years of work with Scouting, refereeing soccer games each weekend, organizing Science Fair Judging across many schools, working with Mountain View schools in developing Science at Shoreline, just to name a few. I have also been active in the schools, with three years as School Site Council chair for two different schools, participation in district committees, and leadership of a major portion of our $80 million bond campaign last June. I've attended many CUSD board meetings, and frequently speak up to offer my opinions.

If you pull all this together, what do you see? I hope you see a person with a long history of leadership in a wide variety of settings, a person with a dedication to education and children, and a person with the potential to make a positive difference to our district.