“The addition of Jill Smith and Matt O’Connell to the USGIF board brings a wealth of knowledge in the commercial imagery sector and also best practices in business from their wide-ranging experiences in finance, strategic management and brand development,” said Stu Shea, USGIF chairman and CEO. “They are great assets to USGIF and the community, and we are pleased they are now helping set the direction of the community.”

O’Connell has more than twenty years of experience in communications management and finance. He came to the commercial remote sensing industry in 2001 as CEO of GeoEye’s predecessor, Orbimage. In January 2006, Orbimage merged with Space Imaging to form GeoEye Inc. A year later, Deloitte named GeoEye as one of the Virginia Technology Fast 50 companies, ranking the company No. 12. In January, O’Connell was appointed by the Department of the Interior to serve on its National Geospatial Advisory Committee.

“I am honored to be elected to the USGIF Board,” said O’Connell. “I look forward to assisting the Foundation, as we already do at GeoEye, in furthering its commitment to supporting academic initiatives and ensuring a talented pool of young people who are crucial to our industry's future.”

Smith came to DigitalGlobe in November 2005 with a wealth of experience leading commercial technology companies in the Internet, software and electronic publishing markets. She was previously president and CEO of eDial, a collaboration software company she successfully repositioned and helped grow, culminating in eDial’s acquisition by Alcatel. Before that, she was COO of Micron Electronics Inc., a $1.5 billion direct PC manufacturer and marketer.

“Being selected to USGIF Board of Directors is an honor and a privilege,” said Smith. “My commitment to technical superiority, innovation and unparalleled service to our customers is well aligned with USGIF’s dedication to promoting the tradecraft across government, industry and academia—and we at DigitalGlobe are excited about this opportunity to further support the community.”

After completing their terms of service, Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI, and Dr. Michael F. Goodchild, professor of geography at the University of California Santa Barbara, were elected to the honorary status of emeritus directors.

USGIF members continuing to serve are:

K. Stuart Shea, chief executive officer and chairman of the board; and president, Intelligence, Security and Technology, SAIC
Dr. William L. Ballhaus, president, Network Systems Electronics and Integrated Systems, BAE Systems
Aimee Correnti, vice president of operations, USGIF
Joan Avalyn Dempsey, vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton
Arthur V. Grant, private consultant
Mr. Paul Graziani, president and chief executive officer, Analytical Graphics Inc.
Leo A. Hazlewood, senior vice president and general manager, Mission Integration Business Unit, SAIC
Brig. Gen. Michael G. Lee, USAF (Ret.), vice president business development, Global Security Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Information Systems and Global Services
James A. Myer, president, Photon Research Associates Inc.
Herbert F. Satterlee III, chief executive officer, Novariant
Michael M. Thomas, president, Global Security Solutions, Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services
Christopher Tucker, senior vice president Americas, Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging
John T. Werle, president, PCI Geomatics
USGIF is a not-for-profit education corporation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger community of interest between government, industry, academia, professional organizations and individuals whose mission focus is the development and application of geospatial intelligence to address national security objectives. To learn more, please visit our website at www.USGIF.org.