Mr. Leight has served as a member of our Board since the Aldabra Merger. He was Aldabra's Chairman of the Board of Directors from its inception in 2004 until completion of the Aldabra Merger. Mr. Leight is the co-founder, a managing member, and chief investment officer of Terrapin Partners LLC, established in August 1998, and Terrapin Asset Management, LLC. Terrapin Partners is a private investment management firm. Terrapin Asset Management focuses on the management of multi-manager hedge fund portfolios and, as of January 1, 2009, managed more than $300 million. From March 2007 until February 2008 Mr. Leight was the Chairman of Aldabra 2 Acquisition Corp., a blank check company which raised $414 million of gross proceeds in its June 2007 initial public offering. In February 2008, Aldabra 2 acquired the paper and packaging assets of Boise Cascade, LLC, changed its name to Boise Inc. (NYSE: BZ), and Mr. Leight became a director of Boise Inc. From September 1998 to March 1999, Mr. Leight served as the interim chief executive officer of e-STEEL LLC, an Internet-based steel marketplace, and from January 2000 to May 2002, he served as interim chief executive officer of VastVideo, Inc., a special interest video content and technology provider. From February 1995 to August 1998, Mr. Leight was employed by Gabriel Capital LP, a hedge fund with assets exceeding $1 billion, and from February 1995 to August 1997, he served as its chief investment officer. From December 1991 to February 1995, Mr. Leight served as a managing director of Dillon Read & Co., an investment bank, where he oversaw the firm's proprietary trading department. Mr. Leight graduated cum laude from Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. Mr. Leight is the cousin of Jonathan W. Berger, one of our directors.

 

 

 

 

On July 30, 2010, Carl A. Albert, Board Chair of Boise Inc., a leading manufacturer of packaging and paper products, was elected to the Board of Directors of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation. Mr. Albert has had a distinguished career in the aerospace industry and more recently as an investor. Since 2000, Mr. Albert has served as Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Fairchild Venture Capital Corporation, a private investment firm. From 1990 to 2000, he was the majority owner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairchild Aerospace Corporation and Fairchild Dornier Luftfahrt, GmbH, both aircraft manufacturers. After providing start-up venture capital, he served from 1981 - 1988 as the Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Wings West Airlines, a regional airline that was acquired, during 1988, by AMR Corporation, the parent of American Airlines. Earlier in his career, he was an attorney practicing business, real estate and corporate law. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the UCLA School of Law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Berger became Chief Executive Officer of Great Lakes in September 2010. Mr. Berger has served as a member of our Board since our merger with a subsidiary of Aldabra Acquisition Corporation on December 26, 2006. Mr. Berger also serves as the chair of our Audit Committee. He was a member of Aldabra's Board of Directors from its inception in 2004 until the completion of the Aldabra Merger. Mr. Berger has been associated with Tellurian Partners, LLC since August 2009 and is presently the managing partner. Mr. Berger is a director on the Board of Directors and is Chairman of the Audit and Compensation Committees of Boise Inc., a paper and packaging company. From January 2002 until July 2009, Mr. Berger was a managing director and co-head of Corporate Finance for Navigant Consulting, Inc. (“NCI”), a New York Stock Exchange-listed consulting firm. Mr. Berger was also President of Navigant Capital Advisors, LLC, the wholly owned broker-dealer of NCI during a portion of that time. From January 2000 to March 2001, Mr. Berger was president of DotPlanet.com, an Internet services provider. From August 1983 to December 1999, Mr. Berger was employed by KPMG, LLP, an independent public accounting firm, where he served as a partner from August 1991 to December 1999; he was in charge of the corporate finance practice for three of those years. Mr. Berger received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and a Master of Business Administration from Emory University. Mr. Berger is a certified public accountant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen H. Bittel, Director

 

Mr. Bittel is the Chairman and founder of Terranova Corporation, leading a team of professionals in the owning and/or operating of a commercial real estate portfolio valued at nearly $1.0 billion. Mr. Bittel graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College and received a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law. In 1999, Mr. Bittel founded Petroleum Realty Investment Partners. A Miami native, Mr. Bittel has been a member of the United Jewish Committee Young Leadership Cabinet, the Florida Bar Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Young Presidents Organization (past Chairman of the Miami Chapter) and the Real Estate Round Table. Mr. Bittel served as Director on the Boards of the Community Partnership for the Homeless, the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, and the Jackson Memorial Hospital Foundation. In 2005, Mr. Bittel was awarded the South Florida Business Journal "Ultimate CEO" award. Mr. Bittel is a Board member and Vice Chairman of Development of the National Jewish Democratic Council and has led the Greater Miami Jewish Federation's Washington Mission in 2009 and 2010. Mr. Bittel is a member at large of the Democratic National Committee, serving on the Rules and Bylaws Committee. Mr. Bittel currently sits on the Florida International University Foundation and Alonzo Mourning Charities Board of Directors.

 

 

 

 

Peter R. Deutsch, Director

 

Mr. Deutsch has served as a member of our Board since the Aldabra Merger. He was a member of Aldabra's Board of Directors from its inception in 2004 until the completion of the Aldabra Merger. Mr. Deutsch is an attorney in private practice. Mr. Deutsch was a member of the United States House of Representatives from January 1993 until January 2005 representing the 20th Congressional District of Florida. He served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee from January 1994 until January 2005. He was the Ranking Democrat on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee during the 104th, 107th and 108th Congresses. Mr. Deutsch was the Ranking Democrat in the investigations of Enron Corporation, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., Bridgestone/Firestone Tires and the conflict of interest abuses at the National Institute of Health. He was also a member of the subcommittees on Telecommunications and the Internet, the Environment and Hazardous Materials and Consumer Trade and Protection. Prior to serving in Congress, Mr. Deutsch served in the Florida House of Representatives from November 1982 until November 1992, where he served on the Veterans Affairs Committee, the Health Care Committee, the Criminal Justice Committee, and as Chairman of the Insurance Committee. Mr. Deutsch received a Bachelor of Science degree from Swarthmore College and a J.D. from Yale University Law School.

 

 

 

 

Mr. Mackie has served as a member of our Board since 1995 and is presently Chairman Emeritus and a consultant for the Company. He also served as our President and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 until September 2010. He joined Great Lakes in 1978 as Corporate Counsel. In 1987, he was named Senior Vice President. Mr. Mackie earned a J.D. from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. He is also the President of the Dredging Contractors of America. Mr. Mackie's extensive firsthand knowledge and experience with the Company and the dredging industry provides the Board with a greater understanding of the Company's business.

 

 

 

 

Mr. Weiss has served as a member of our Board since the Aldabra Merger. He was Aldabra's Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and a member of Aldabra's Board of Directors from Aldabra's inception in 2004 until the completion of the Aldabra Merger. Since June 2009, Mr. Weiss has been the managing member and sole owner of Terrapin Palisades Ventures, LLC, a private investment company and the general partner of several California and Uruguay-focused agricultural investment partnerships, as well as a New Zealand real estate focused investment partnership. From 1988 to June 2009, Mr. Weiss was a managing member and co-founder of Terrapin Partners LLC, Terrapin Asset Management, LLC and TWF Management Company LLC, all private equity and asset management companies. From March 2007 until February 2008, Mr. Weiss was the Chief Executive Officer of Aldabra 2 Acquisition Corp. In February 2008, Aldabra 2 acquired the paper and packaging assets of Boise Cascade, LLC, changed its name to Boise Inc. (NYSE: BZ), and Mr. Weiss became a director of Boise Inc. From March 1999 to December 1999, Mr. Weiss served as the chief executive officer of PaperExchange.com, Inc., a web-based trading platform for paper and pulp, and from December 1999 to March 2000 he served as executive vice president of strategy. He also served as a managing member of e-STEEL LLC, an Internet-based steel marketplace, from September 1998 to March 1999. Mr. Weiss also served as a managing member of Terrapin's portfolio company, American Classic Sanitation, LLC, a temporary site services provider from August 1998 to December 2000 and from January 2004 to March 2004. He also served as its chief executive officer from August 1998 to December 1999. Mr. Weiss serves as a national board member of the Humane Society of the United States ("HSUS"), the largest animal protection organization in the world. He is the Chairman of HSUS' Investment and Pension Trust Committee (which has approximately $200 million of assets), the Chairman of HSUS' Risk Management Committee, and he serves on HSUS' Executive Committee. Mr. Weiss received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan (with Highest Distinction) and a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from Harvard Law School.