Management Team

As Aviat’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Smith leads the advancement of the Company’s financial and operational performance, while strategically navigating through a rapidly evolving industry.

Mr. Smith has more than 25 years of leadership experience in business management and a proven track record of creating value for companies. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, US Windows and Canada for Jeld-Wen, where he had full profit and loss responsibility for Jeld-Wen’s $1B+ windows business, implementing lean manufacturing principles and strategic development programs to deliver growth and improved profitability. Prior to Jeld-Wen, he served as President of Polypore International’s Transportation and Industrial segment and oversaw transformative initiatives that helped prepare the former public company for sale to the Asahi Kasei Group. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Voltaix Inc., until its sale to Air Liquide.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Smith held various executive leadership positions at Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, including Cooper Industries, Dover Knowles Electronics and Honeywell Specialty Materials. In these roles, his responsibilities ran the gamut of operations, sales and marketing, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Smith also served on the board of Soleras Advanced Coatings from 2015 to 2018. He has both a Bachelor of Science degree in Material (Ceramics) Engineering and PhD in Material Science and Engineering from Rutgers University, and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University.

As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Connaway is responsible for worldwide finance, treasury, accounting, reporting, compliance, and taxation. Prior to joining Aviat, Mr. Connaway was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Safety and Productivity Solutions business at Honeywell.  He also held a variety of executive finance positions at ABB and General Electric. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Boston College where he graduated with honors with a major in Finance and minor in Hispanic Studies. Michael brings to Aviat significant CFO experience in operational performance management, capital allocation, tax and treasury, M&A, strategic planning, and global controllership.

As Vice President of Marketing, Mr. Croke is responsible for Aviat’s global marketing which includes corporate and strategic marketing functions and product line management. Mr. Croke charts Aviat’s global product and marketing strategy and ensures successful company-wide implementation. His team's primary focus is on achieving business growth through the definition and launch of new solutions that drive customer economic value. Mr. Croke has over 25 years of leadership experience in the data and mobile communications sectors and he is highly skilled at delivering creative and compelling value propositions with demand generation programs that produce business results. Gary has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland and has pursued postgraduate studies/research in business administration at the University of Ottawa.

As Vice President of APAC Sales & Services, Mr. Chua is responsible for all aspects of sales and services in the Asia Pacific region. He is a global executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience across a diverse range of industries. Prior to joining Aviat, Mr. Chua served as Vice President for Alverpine Capital Private Limited in Singapore where he counseled companies on capital structures and investments. Before Alverpine, Mr. Chua was Vice President and Managing Director of Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia for Daramic, now Asahi Kasei, where he was responsible for strategic planning and held full P&L responsibility for the company’s commercial sales and operations in the region. Earlier in his career, he served in APAC regional sales and service leadership roles with Honeywell’s Performance Material and Technology Group and in senior engineering roles with Toshiba Matsushita Display. 

Mr, Chua earned a Master of Science in Innovative Manufacturing Systems & Technology from Nanyang Technical University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a Bachelor of Engineering from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. Additionally, he holds certifications in 6-sigma, strategic marketing and project management.
 

As Aviat’s Vice President for Legal Affairs, Ms. Boase will oversee all aspects of the Legal function. Ms. Boase brings a depth of experience to the team in privacy, employment, compliance, real estate, M&A, as well as, copyright, trademark and other product, software, service and cloud-related legal matters. Her experience within the high technology area will strengthen our legal function as we position the company for growth. Ms. Boase joins us from Lifesize, Inc. where she served as Head of Legal and Corporate Secretary. Prior to that she was the Senior Corporate Counsel at Cisco (formerly Duo Security, Inc.) where she managed the adoption of GDPR privacy compliance, development of company policies, copyright and trademark, technical compliance as well as other legal matters. Earlier in her career she held legal positions of progressive responsibility with Dell’s Computer and Security business and Thomson Reuters. Erin holds a Juris Doctorate, Technology and Communications and graduated Cum Laude from Thomas Jefferson School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Midwestern State University.

As Vice President of EMEA, Mr. Leonardi is responsible for all aspects of sales and services in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. Mr. Leonardi is an international executive that brings more than 20 years of experience in senior sales and management positions at leading technology companies along with a deep understanding of customer requirements in the region. Prior to joining Aviat, Mr. Leonardi served as Vice President of Sales EMEA at Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), a global designer and manufacturer of total-package solutions for wireless and broadcast infrastructure, where he led international sales teams across the region, overseeing both direct and indirect sales channels whilst playing a vital role in shaping the company's vision, mission, and strategic goals. Earlier in his career, Mr Leonardi has led business operations in EMEA for Ericsson, Nokia Networks, AGT International and Avanti Communications Group, among others. He has also managed country-wide operations and integration of Nokia and Siemens in the region.

Mr Leonardi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy, and has studied executive management at Columbia University in New York.