Board of Directors
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Mark Dankberg is a founder of Viasat and serves as its Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Dankberg previously served as Executive Chairman from November 2020 to June 2022, and as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer from Viasat’s inception in 1986 until November 2020. Mr. Dankberg currently serves on the board of directors of Lytx, Inc., a privately-held company that provides fleet safety management solutions. Prior to founding Viasat, he was Assistant Vice President of M/A-COM Linkabit, a manufacturer of satellite telecommunications equipment, from 1979 to 1986, and Communications Engineer for Rockwell International Corporation from 1977 to 1979. Mr. Dankberg holds B.S.E.E. and M.E.E. degrees from Rice University.
Richard Baldridge has been a director of Viasat since 2016. Mr. Baldridge joined Viasat in 1999, serving as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer from 2000, as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 2002, and as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2003. Mr. Baldridge served as President and Chief Executive Officer from November 2020 through July 2022, and served as Vice Chairman from July 2022 until his retirement in June 2023. In addition, Mr. Baldridge serves as a director of Ducommun Incorporated (NYSE: DCO), a provider of engineering and manufacturing services to the aerospace and defense industries, and EvoNexus, a San Diego based non-profit technology incubator. Prior to joining Viasat, Mr. Baldridge served as Vice President and General Manager of Raytheon Corporation’s Training Systems Division from 1998 to 1999. From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Baldridge served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Hughes Information Systems and Hughes Training Inc., prior to their acquisition by Raytheon in 1997. Mr. Baldridge’s other experience includes various senior financial and general management roles with General Dynamics Corporation. Mr. Baldridge holds a B.S.B.A. degree in Information Systems from New Mexico State University.
Barbara Frenkel, 62, has held various roles at Porsche AG since 2001. Most recently, she served as a member of the Executive Board – Procurement from August 2021 to August 2025. From January 2019 to August 2021, Ms. Frenkel served as a member of the Supervisory Board, and she previously served as Vice President, European Region; Vice President, Network Management and Development; Director, Global Sales Training and Director, Quality Systems and Methods. She has also been responsible for sustainability activities at Porsche AG. Prior to joining Porsche AG in 2001, Ms. Frenkel held leadership roles at leading automotive companies including TRW Automotive, Valeo, and Helsa Werke. Ms. Frenkel studied chemistry at the University of Bayreuth and rubber technology at Leibniz University Hannover in Germany.
William LaPlante, 61, served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment from April 2022 to January 2025. From September 2020 to April 2022, Dr. LaPlante served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Draper Laboratory, a research and development company specializing in advanced technology solutions in national security, space exploration, health care and energy. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager at MITRE National Security, where he oversaw the operation of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. From 2014 to 2017, Dr. LaPlante served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. He previously spent 26 years at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he ultimately led the Global Engagement Department. Dr. LaPlante has been a member of several government scientific boards and commissions focused on maintaining national security, including the U.S. Strategic Command Senior Advisory Group, Naval Research Advisory Committee and Defense Science Board. Dr. LaPlante earned a B.S. degree in engineering physics from the University of Illinois, an M.S. degree in applied physics from The Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from the Catholic University of America.
Sean Pak has been a director of Viasat since 2018, and has served as Lead Independent Director since February 2019. Mr. Pak has been a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP since 2009, and he currently serves as the Co-Chair of its National Intellectual Property Litigation Practice and Co-Managing Partner of the San Francisco office. From 2002 to 2009, Mr. Pak was an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP, and previously worked in engineering roles at Intel Corporation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He is a litigator with extensive experience litigating patents, trade secrets, copyrights and other intellectual property. Mr. Pak received a J.D. degree (cum laude) from Harvard Law School, and B.S. and M. Eng. Degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.
Michael Paull, 53, currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of RBmedia, an audiobook publisher, which he joined in March 2024. He also serves on the board of directors of PlayOn! Sports and previously served on the board of directors of MoneyLion, Inc., a mobile banking and technology company. Mr. Paull previously served as President of Disney Streaming from 2022 to 2023 and oversaw Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Star+ globally. Mr. Paull joined The Walt Disney Company in 2017 with the acquisition of Bamtech Media, where he served as CEO and a member of the board of directors. Before joining Bamtech, Mr. Paull worked from 2012 to 2017 at Amazon as Vice President, Digital Video, where he ran Amazon Channels worldwide and was responsible for its global content, product, technology, operations and marketing. During his tenure at Amazon, he also oversaw Prime Video and Amazon’s TVOD business in the U.S. Mr. Paull has more than 20 years of consumer product development, technology, content distribution and acquisition and media industry experience. Before Amazon, he led Sony Music’s digital business worldwide and held other senior leadership positions with Sony Pictures Entertainment, FOX Entertainment Group, and Time Warner. Mr. Paull earned a B.S. degree from the University of California and an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School.
John Stenbit has been a director of Viasat since 2004, and is a consultant for various government and commercial clients. From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Stenbit served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence, or C3I, and later as Assistant Secretary of Defense of Networks and Information Integration / Department of Defense Chief Information Officer, the C3I successor organization. From 1977 to 2001, Mr. Stenbit worked for TRW, Inc., retiring as Executive Vice President. Mr. Stenbit was a Fulbright Fellow and Aerospace Corporation Fellow at the Technische Hogeschool, Einhoven, Netherlands. Mr. Stenbit has chaired the Science Advisory Panel for the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He also has significant expertise and perspective as a member of the boards of directors of private and public companies in various industries. Mr. Stenbit currently serves on the boards of directors of Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: LORL) and DGI Holdings Inc., a private corporation. Mr. Stenbit previously served as a director of Cogent, Inc., SM&A Corporation and SI International, Inc., as a member of the Advisory Board of the National Security Agency and of the Science Advisory Group of the U.S. Strategic Command.
Dr. Theresa Wise has been a director of Viasat since 2020. Dr. Wise is Chief Executive Officer and principal for Utaza, LLC, an information technology consulting company, a role she has held since 2017. Dr. Wise is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Delta Air Lines, a commercial airline, a role she held from 2008 to 2016. Prior to joining Delta, Dr. Wise held a number of positions at Northwest Airlines Corporation, a commercial airline, including serving as the company’s Chief Information Officer from 2001 until Northwest Airlines Corporation’s merger with Delta in 2008. Dr. Wise currently serves on the Board of Directors of Impinj, Inc., a manufacturer of radio-frequency identification devices and software, and TCF Financial Corporation, a financial services company. Dr. Wise received a B.A. degree in mathematics and chemistry from St. Olaf College and Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in applied math from Cornell University.
