Board of Directors

Board of Directors​

Amir Elstein

Chairman of the Board

Amir Elstein was appointed as Chairman of the Board in January 2009.  Mr. Elstein serves as a Director of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. During 2010-2013, Mr. Elstein served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Israel Corporation. Mr. Elstein serves as Chairman of the Israel Democracy Institute, and as chairman/member of the board of several non-governmental organizations in academic, scientific and educational, social and cultural institutions. 

Mr. Elstein was a member of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries senior management team from 2005 to 2008, where he ultimately held the position of the Executive Vice President at the Office of the CEO, overseeing Global Pharmaceutical Resources. Prior thereto, he was an executive at Intel Corporation, where he worked for 23 years, eventually serving as General Manager of Intel Electronics Ltd., an Israeli subsidiary of Intel. 

Mr. Elstein received his B.Sc. in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University in 1980 and his M.Sc. in the Solid State Physics Department of Applied Physics from the Hebrew University in 1982. In 1992, Mr. Elstein received his diploma of Senior Business Management from the Hebrew University.

Yoav Z. Chelouche

Director, Chairman of the Audit Committee

Yoav Z. Chelouche has served as a director since April 2016, as a member of the Nomination Committee since January 2018, and as a chairman and member of our Audit Committee since May 2017. Mr. Chelouche is classified by the Board of Directors as an audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules. Mr. Chelouche serves as Managing Partner of Aviv Ventures since Aviv’s inception in 2001. Between 1995 and 2001, Mr. Chelouche served as President & CEO of Scitex Corp. Until 2015, he was co-chairman of Israel Advanced Technology Industries. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Checkpoint Software Technologies and the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). He is currently a board member of Aviv’s portfolio companies: MGVS, Briefcam, ScaleMP and Optimal Test. Mr. Chelouche also previously served as Chairman of several public companies.

Mr. Chelouche holds a B.A. in economics and statistics from Tel-Aviv University and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Ilan Flato

Director, Chairman of the Compensation Committee

Ilan Flato served as an external director until November 2016, and has served as a director thereafter. Mr. Flato has served as chairman of the Compensation Committee since February 2013 and as a member of the Audit Committee since April 2009. Mr. Flato is classified by the Board of Directors as an audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules. Mr. Flato has served as President of The Association of Publicly Traded Companies on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange since January 2012. Since 2011, Mr. Flato has been a member of the Israeli Bar Association. From 2009 until 2018, Mr. Flato has served as director in two Provident Funds. From 2009 until April 2018, Mr. Flato served as Chairman of the Business Executive of Kibbutz Kfar Blum. From January 2018, he serves as Chairman of the Business Executive Kibbutz “NAAN”. Since 2004, Mr. Flato has functioned as an independent financial adviser. Until 2004, Mr. Flato served as the VP for planning, economics and online banking in United Mizrahi Bank and as the Chief Economist of the bank. From 1992 until 1996, Mr. Flato served as the Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel. Prior to that position, Mr. Flato has served in the Treasury Office as the deputy director of the budget department. In addition, Mr. Flato served as a member of the board of directors of many government-owned companies. 

Mr. Flato holds a B.A. in economics from Tel-Aviv University, an LL.B. from Netanya College, an M.A. in law from Bar-Ilan University and an MSIT from Clark University.

Kalman Kaufman

Director, Chairman of the Nomination Committee

Kalman Kaufman has served as a director since 2005 and as Chairman of the Nomination Committee since January 2018. Mr. Kaufman served as Corporate Vice President at Applied Materials from 1994 to 2005. Between 1985 and 1994, Mr. Kaufman served as President of KLA Instruments Israel, a company he founded, and General Manager of Kulicke and Soffa Israel. 

Mr. Kaufman is currently the Chairman of the board of directors of Medasense and Invisia, a director at ATP labs and a member of the management board of the Kinneret College. He holds engineering degrees from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Iris Avner

Director

Iris Avner served as an external director until November 2016, and has served as a director thereafter. Ms. Avner has served as a member of the Compensation Committee and Audit Committee since June 2016. Ms. Avner is classified by the Board of Directors as an audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules. Ms. Avner serves as Chief Executive Officer of Nika Holdings, Ltd. From 2008 to 2015, Ms. Avner served as Managing Partner of Mustang Mezzanine Fund, L.P. and served on Mustang’s board of directors from 2014 until 2015. From 1996 until 2008, she served as Chief Executive Officer of Mizrahi Tefahot Capital Markets Ltd. and from 1996 until 2005, served as Senior Credit Officer & Deputy CEO of Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. In addition, from 1997 until 2002, she served as Assistant Professor and external lecturer in the Executive MBA Program in Tel Aviv University. From 1988 until 1996, Ms. Avner held various positions at Israeli Discount Bank including Senior Credit Officer and Senior Economist. Since March 2018, Ms. Avner serves as a member of the board of directors of Discount Bank. She previously served on several boards and board committees in Israel and abroad, both as director and chairperson. 

Ms. Avner holds a B.A. in accounting and economics from Hebrew University and an MBA from Tel-Aviv University.

Russell Ellwanger 

Director, CEO

Russell C. Ellwanger has served as our Chief Executive Officer since May 2005. Mr. Ellwanger has also served as a director since September 2016, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of our subsidiaries, Tower Semiconductor USA, Inc., Tower US Holdings, Inc., Jazz US Holdings, Inc., Jazz Semiconductor, Inc., TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and TowerJazz Texas, Inc. He also served as a director of the Company between May 2005 and April 2013. From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Ellwanger served in various executive positions for Applied Materials Corporation, including Group Vice President, General Manager of the Applied Global Services (AGS), from 2004 to 2005, Group Vice President, General Manager of the CMP and Electroplating Business Group, from 2002 to 2004. Mr. Ellwanger also served as Corporate Vice President, General Manager of the Metrology and Inspection Business Group, from 2000 to 2002, during which he was based in Israel. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Ellwanger served as Vice President of Applied Materials’ 300-mm Program Office, USA. Mr. Ellwanger served as General Manager of Applied Materials’ Metal CVD Division from 1997 to 1998 and from 1996 to 1997, Mr. Ellwanger served as Managing Director of CVD Business Development, during which he was based in Singapore. In addition, Mr. Ellwanger held various managerial positions in Novellus System from 1992 to 1996 and in Philips Semiconductors from 1980 to 1992.

Dana Gross

Director

Dana Gross has served as a director since November 2008, as a member of the Nomination Committee since January 2018 and as a member of the Compensation Committee since February 2013. In addition, Mrs. Gross has served as a director on the board of Jazz Semiconductor, Inc., our wholly owned subsidiary, since March 2009. Mrs. Gross is currently the COO of Prospera Technologies Ltd., an AgTech Data Company. Mrs. Gross was the CFO of eToro, a FinTech company that developed a Social Investment network from 2014 to 2016, and the CEO of Btendo, a start-up company that developed MEMS based PICO projection solutions, until it was acquired by ST Microelectronic in 2012. In 2008, Mrs. Gross joined Carmel Ventures, a leading Israeli Venture Capital firm as a Venture Partner. From 2006 to 2008, Mrs. Gross was a Senior VP, Israel Country Manager at SanDisk Corporation. From 1992 to 2006, Mrs. Gross held various senior positions at M-Systems, including Chief Marketing Officer, VP World Wide Sales, President of M-Systems Inc. (US Subsidiary) and CFO, VP Finance and Administration. In addition, Mrs. Gross served as a director of M-Systems Ltd., Audiocodes Ltd. and Power Dsine Ltd. 

Mrs. Gross holds a B.Sc. in industrial engineering from Tel-Aviv University and an M.A. in business administration from San Jose State University.

Rami Guzman

Director

Rami Guzman has served as a director since February 2009, as a member of the Nomination Committee since January 2018, and as a member of our Audit Committee since August 2011. Mr. Guzman is classified by the Board of Directors as an audit committee financial expert under applicable SEC rules. Mr. Guzman held various senior positions at Motorola Inc. and Motorola Israel Ltd. since 1985, including VP of Motorola Inc. and Director of Motorola Israel Ltd. In addition, until July 2004, Mr. Guzman was the CFO of Motorola Israel Ltd. Prior to joining Motorola, Mr. Guzman worked for the Ministry of Finance first as senior assistant and deputy to the Director of the Budget and then as Government-wide MIS and IT Commissioner. Mr. Guzman is a member of professional committees in the Israel Credit Insurance Company and the Israel Infrastructure Fund, and consultant and advisor to technology based companies. Since 2017, he serves as the Chairman of the board of directors of Tigbur. Mr. Guzman also serves since 2005 as a director in various entities, including serving as a director in Bank Leumi until October 2015.

Mr. Guzman holds a B.A. in economics (1963) and an M.A. in business and public administration (1969) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a Research Fellow at Stanford University and Stanford Research Institute, California, USA, and completed Ph.D. studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Alex Kornhauser

Director

Alex Kornhauser serves as a director since November 2016, after having served as an external director since August 2008. Mr. Kornhauser has served as a member of the Compensation Committee since June 2009. From 2017, Mr. Kornhauser serves as a board member at Priortech. From 2008 until 2010, Mr. Kornhauser served as Senior VP and General Manager of Global Operations at Numonyx Corporation. From 1978 until 2008, Mr. Kornhauser held many senior management positions at Intel Corporation and Intel Israel serving as GM of Intel Israel, GM of Intel Electronics, VP of Technology and Manufacturing Group and President of Intel Israel. 

Mr. Kornhauser holds a B.Sc. in electronics from Bucharest Polytechnic Institute in Romania.