Global Quality Exchange

Board Overview
The Global Quality Exchange, Inc. (GQEX) is a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of privately-held stock company Apogee Global Resources, Inc. (AGR). This company was formed to make strategic investments in the quality industry. Our Board of Directors has one-hundred (100) years of quality industry experience, as well as three-hundred (300) plus years of executive business management experience. The Directors are:

President & CEO – Ronald D. Mathis graduated with a bachelor degree from the University of South Florida, and also graduated from the Executive Management Program at Cornell University and IBM’s Executive Management Program. Mr. Mathis has enjoyed a successful business career of over 30 years in various executive positions within the quality management industry. Apogee Global Resources, Inc. utilizes Mr. Mathis’ consulting, management and marketing experience within two of the “Big Ten” registrar companies, specifically, Intertek® Systems Certification and the British Standards Institution (BSI®). Mr. Mathis began his career in Florida in the "high-tech" industry with concentrations in telecommunications and associated software development protocols. A recipient of numerous awards for marketing and sales and training programs, Mr. Mathis most enjoys developing new business relationships, golf and fishing.

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer – P. Douglas McMillan holds a degree in Accounting from the University of North Carolina, and has enjoyed a successful business career of over 30 years as a CFO and CEO of both privately-held and public companies in the Southeast, including a private distribution company with sales of $40 million and a public distribution company with sales of $160 million. Mr. McMillan has most recently been affiliated with a regional investment banking firm acting as a financial advisor to client companies. Mr. McMillan will have responsibility for all banking relationships and financial controls of the Company, and will coordinate the Company’s accounting, tax and audit matters with its outside accounting and auditing firm.

Director - Lloyd Barker has a Bachelor of Technology in Aviation Management from New York Institute of Technology, New York and an Associate in Applied Science in Aeronautical Engineering from College of Aeronautics, New York. Mr. Barker leads the development, deployment and management of the strategic Quality Assurance agenda for Alcoa globally. Mr. Barker joined Alcoa Inc. in October 2001 as Director of Corporate Quality. He had been Director of Corporate Quality for Howmet Castings before Alcoa acquired it in 2000. Earlier he has had a 13-year career with Honeywell Engines & Systems in the functional capacity of Director, Supplier Quality Assurance and several other quality assurance and operations management positions, including accountability for the Production Engine and Component Test operations. Mr. Barker recently served on the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and is currently a member of the Nadcap Executive Strategic Planning Board, and Vice Chair for the American Society for Quality (ASQ) – Quality Management Division. He is an ASQ certified Quality Auditor, Quality Engineer, and Quality Manager and also holds an Airframe & Powerplant License granted by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Director - Ambassador Edward W. “Skip” Gnehm Jr. has had a distinguished career in government, as Ambassador to Kuwait (1991-94), Australia (2000-01) and Jordan (2001-04). He also served as Director General of the Foreign Service from 1997-2000 and was Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador from 1994-1997. Ambassador Gnehm was born in Carrolton, Georgia. He graduated from The George Washington University with a B.A. in 1966 and an M.A. in 1968. While at GW he served as president of the student body. From 1966-1967, he attended the American University in Cairo, Egypt, under a post-graduate Rotary International Fellowship and completed a year of graduate study at the American University in Cairo, Egypt in 1968. Ambassador Gnehm joined the U.S. Department of State in 1969 and has forged a long and distinguished diplomatic career. His positions included: Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Personnel for the Department of State; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near East and South Asia; Deputy Chief of Mission, American Embassy, Amman, Jordan, and Embassy Sanaa, Yemen; head of the U.S. Liaison Office, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Deputy Principal Officer, U.S. Interests Section, Damascus, Syria. Ambassador Gnehm received two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards in 1990 for his public service as Assistant Secretary of Defense, and in 1991 for his service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. He is also the recipient of several State Department awards, including Superior Honor Awards for his service in Kuwait and Riyadh, in Washington as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and in Taif, Saudi Arabia as Special Envoy to the Kuwaiti Government and Meritorious Honor Awards for his work in Damascus and Beirut. He was awarded two Secretary of Defense Medals for Meritorious Civilian Service: one by Secretary of Defense Carlucci for his service in the office of the Secretary of Defense and a second by Secretary of Defense Perry for his support to U.S. forces during and after Desert Storm. In 1992 Ambassador Gnehm received The George Washington University's Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. He served seven years as a member of The George Washington University Board of Trustees and was a member of the board's Executive Committee and chairman of the Student Affairs Committee. He also served as Vice President of the General Alumni Association.
Ambassador Gnehm is currently on the faculty of the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce and as an executive board member of the Kuwaiti-American Alliance. Ambassador Gnehm was also elected to the Academy of American Diplomacy, an organization of 300 of the most senior former American diplomats.

Director - Robert H. King Jr. earned a B.S. degree in International Studies from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining the board of AGR Bob served as President of the ANSI ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) in Milwaukee, WI. ANAB operates accreditation programs for Certification Bodies who register clients to ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 and associated sector schemes. King was responsible for enhancing the strength of existing ANAB programs and for responding as markets demand expansion into new areas. His duties included overall general management with a marketing emphasis and international focus. ANAB is the successor organization to the ANSI-RAB NAP. King enjoyed a 27 year career in the chemical industry in marketing and sales then as vice president, Supply Chain NAFTA (Polymers), with Bayer Corp. He joined Bayer in 1985 and progressed to become a market manager, national sales director, and a company vice president. Prior to joining Bayer, he was with Dow Chemical. King served as a captain in military intelligence in the U.S. Army.

Director – Robert G. Perry is from West Virginia and holds a B.S. degree from The School of Business at The George Washington University; graduate studies in marketing at New York University and The Wharton School of Business, followed by advanced management and industrial relations programs at Rutgers University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan. He is a member of the honor societies of Beta Gamma Sigma, for business, and Phi Beta Delta, for international scholars. He served as Chairman and CEO of British Standards Institute (BSI) Americas. As an executive of AT&T, he served in corporate positions in 5 different states in marketing, finance, operations, Federal Systems, and public affairs. After AT&T, he was appointed COO of Complete Communications Inc. His public sector experience includes The White House; work on Capitol Hill for a Senator, and the U.S. Army. Currently Mr. Perry serves as Chairman and President of the National Trust for the Humanities and is a member of the Board of Trustees for The George Washington University, where he chairs the Medical Committee. His volunteer work includes Big Brothers, Boys Clubs, and YMCA.

Director - Thomas E. Persons, Sr. holds a business and marketing degree from Brunswick College, a Business Administration and Marketing degree from University of Georgia and Mercer University and the Executive Management Development Program at Emory University’s graduate school of business administration. AT&T selected Mr. Persons in 1982 for an Aspen Institute Fellowship for Humanist Studies. He also completed the AT&T Key Executive Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Cambridge Institute. At AT&T he is one of only two executives at his management level to be recognized for five years in AT&T’s Leaders Council and was the AT&T General Manager of the year for six years. During 1983, he received the prestigious AT&T Corporate “E” award for excellence in sales and marketing leadership. In 1990, he was promoted to General Manager for the South Atlantic Area, which included Georgia, North and South Carolina. In 1996, Governor David M. Beasley awarded Mr. Persons with The Order of The Palmetto and designated him a Palmetto Gentleman, the State of South Carolina’s highest civilian award and honor given by a South Carolina Governor. He represented South Carolina as a member of Team South Carolina three times under Gov. Beasley, Gov. Hodges, and Gov. Sanford as a delegate to the SEUS Japan and SEUS Korea Economic Summits.

Director - Vivian A. Wong was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the US in 1963 where she became a US Citizen in 1968. Mrs. Wong graduated from KCC College in 1958, Eton Business College (Hong Kong) in 1960 and received her major in Spanish from Furman University. She is fluent in English, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. Mrs. Wong is the co-founder and Chairwoman for Pacific Gateway Capital Group. PCGP capitalizes on the blooming opportunities in US-China trade, through such initiatives as the development of US retail franchises in China, attracting Chinese investment to the US and US investment to China. Mrs. Wong currently sits on the boards of Ryan’s, Global Trading Consortium, Apogee Global Resources, South Carolina Technology Alliance, Independent National Bank as is the Founder, Vice Chairman and Director of Touchstone National Bank. Mrs. Wong has received numerous awards and recognition, to include 1982 listing on the World Who’s Who of Women, the 2002 award of The Order of Palmetto of the State of South Carolina, and being named in 2002 as the South Carolina Honorary Trade Ambassador to China.

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