Gururaj Deshpande

Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande co-founded Sycamore and has served as chairman of the board of directors since Sycamore's inception in February 1998. He also served as treasurer and secretary from February 1998 to June 1999 and as president from February 1998 to October 1998. Before founding Sycamore, Dr. Deshpande co-founded Cascade Communications Corp., a provider of wide area network switches. From October 1990 to April 1992, Dr. Deshpande served as president of Cascade and, from April 1992 to June 1997, he served as Cascade's executive vice president of marketing and customer service. Dr. Deshpande was a member of the board of directors of Cascade since its inception and was chairman of the board of directors of Cascade from 1996 to 1997. Dr. Deshpande also serves on the board of directors of Airvana, Inc., a provider of network infrastructure products used by wireless carriers, and as chairman of the board of A123 Systems, a leading supplier of high-power lithium-ion batteries. In 2007, Mass High Tech, the journal of New England Technology, honored Dr. Deshpande as the first recipient of the Distinguished All Star Alumnus Award.