Board of Directors

Bill Beckwith

Bill Beckwith serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Objective Interface Systems, Inc. (OIS). Mr. Beckwith has guided the growth of OIS while playing a critical role in the development of cutting edge communications software products. Mr. Beckwith’s focus of strong emphasis on ethics, product quality, and customer success have positioned OIS as a global leader in secure, real-time communications software and hardware products with over 3,000 active customers using OIS technologies in more than $150 billion of mission critical systems around the world. His dedication to and support of the OIS team have attracted the world-class management and engineering talent that drives the intellectual engine creating and supporting the company’s incredible products.

Mr. Beckwith has over 30 years’ experience in management, finance, engineering, and business development. Prior to OIS, his career included computer software and telecommunications companies including Interbase Software Corp., Systems Center Inc., UCCEL, Inc., STSC, Inc. and MCI Communications, Inc.

Mr. Beckwith received bachelor degrees in accounting and finance from Florida State University and has passed the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam. Mr. Beckwith studied computer science at George Washington University while in high school and competed in mathematics competitions.

Mr. Beckwith is the lead inventor on 8 international patents granted and more than 10 pending international patent applications.

Rhett Hernandez

Lieutenant General Hernandez retired following 39 years of distinguished service in the United States Army. He has led key organizational transformation initiatives for the Army during periods of significant crisis.

His last active duty assignment was as the first Commander of Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER), where he was responsible for the daily operations, defense and risk management of all Army networks with 1.2 million users, and when directed, conduct the full range of cyberspace operations. In addition to building a cyber-force of more than 17,000 people, he led the development of a wide range of concepts, plans and programs to minimize cyber risk and ensure Army operations. As the Army’s lead for all cyberspace activity, he was responsible for cyber doctrine, training, leader development, organization, materiel and people. He developed strategic direction, requirements and an acquisition approach for all cyberspace operations in the Army.

Previously, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Army Operations; Chief, U.S. Military Training Mission, Saudi Arabia; and Commanding General, Human Resources Command. In all three positions, he was involved in key issues and decisions at the highest levels. In his role as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Army Operations, he oversaw Army operations worldwide, directed Army transformation efforts, co-chaired the programming and budget board, chaired the Army network modernization board, approved and prioritized Army requirements. As the Chief, Military Training Mission, Saudi Arabia, he was the senior defense official to the U.S. Ambassador. He led the largest security assistance program in the world, oversaw the Foreign Military Sales program, and strengthened the strategic military partnership and increased readiness and interoperability.

As the Commanding General of Human Resources Command, he directed the personnel management, from accession to retirement, for all soldiers and officers. He transformed personnel services and the management systems to support an Army at war.

Currently, he serves as the West Point Cyber Chair to the Army Cyber Institute, Director CyberSponse, President of CyberLens, LLC and is on a wide range of advisory boards. Rhett is a cyber-expert on leadership, human capital, cyber threats, strategic planning and enterprise risk management. He is actively engaged in consulting, speaking and supporting start-ups to large organizations in the academic, government and industry sectors on key cyber topics.

Rhett holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy, West Point, a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia and a Masters of National Security Strategy from the National War College where he was named a distinguished graduate. He was an Assistant Professor for Probability and Statistics at the United States Military Academy and has published articles on leadership and cyber topics.

Rhett chairs the OIS Board of Directors Nominating Committee, and sits on the Board’s Compensation and Governance Committees.

Deborah B. Dunie

Deborah ” Deb” Dunie brings over 30 years of senior level business experience through key executive positions with leading technology companies. Deb retired in 2015 as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of CACI International, a worldwide information solutions and services provider. During her tenure at CACI she focused on driving the solutions/services portfolio, and was instrumental in identifying and closing 18 mergers/acquisitions aligned to the corporate growth strategy. Deb has demonstrated expertise in Cyber Security, Cloud, Mobility, Data Analytics and Intelligence. Widely quoted in industry publications, Deb was featured as the cover story for Washington Technology “Tech Gurus” in May 2011. Throughout her career, Deb focused extensively on developing corporate culture, leadership, talent and succession planning.

Prior to CACI, Deb was a member of the Department of Defense Senior Executive Service within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. As principal advisor to the USD(I) she was responsible for providing executive leadership, guidance and reviews of DoD activities and programs as they related to U.S. national interests, defense policies, operational requirements and state-of-the-art technologies. Her portfolio included the multi-billion dollar Defense Intelligence IT budget.

In November 2006, Deb was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. Specific mention in the citation states, “Ms. Dunie was a driving force in transforming the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community policies, guidance and standards. These efforts led to improvements in intelligence information sharing at the National level and Combatant Commander level in support of the Global War on Terrorism.”

Prior to her work with the federal government, Deb was responsible for e-business solutions within the national intelligence solutions group at Oracle Corporation, guided the strategic direction of Raytheon E-Systems’ Advanced Technology Program and was in charge of new and follow-on business development in advanced technologies at Martin Marietta/GE Aerospace.

She is a member and former Chair of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) International Technical Committee. She also is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society Industry Advisory Board, the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering Advisory Board, the George Mason University Volgenau School of Engineering Industry Advisory Board, the Tufts University Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Board, and the Washington CTO Roundtable Board of Directors.

Beginning in 2016, she has served on the faculty of the Director Professionalism Program of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). She mentors executives and is called upon to speak to boards about Strategic Growth and C-Suite Relations.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University in Medford, MA, and a Master of Electrical Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.

Deb chairs the OIS Board of Directors Compensation Committee, and sits on the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee.

Steve Walker

Steven R. Walker serves as the General Counsel and Managing Director of the Board Advisory Services of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). In his Board Advisory Services role, Mr. Walker provides counsel to boards and C-suite executives on a wide range of strategic governance matters. He is a frequent public speaker on the topic of board governance, performance, composition and strategic impact. He has been designated a Board Leadership and Governance Fellow by NACD.

Prior to joining NACD, Mr. Walker has served as general counsel and senior executive to public and private entities ranging from private equity backed start-ups to Fortune 100 corporations in a variety of sectors, including managed healthcare, healthcare delivery, pharmaceuticals, life and health insurance, banking, securities, finance, funeral home/cemetery, and technology.

Mr. Walker has also served in the government sector as an Attorney-Advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Corporation Finance during the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley. He was also Senior Counsel with the State of Florida Division of Banking, Finance, Securities and Investor Protection.

Mr. Walker is the past Co-Chair of the Securities and Governance Forum of the Association of Corporate Counsel Washington Metro Chapter. His current board service includes the Advisory Board of ContractRoom. His past board experience includes the Orange Bowl Committee, Association of Corporate Counsel-MI Chapter, American Cancer Society-Tampa, and Friends of the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts-Miami.

Mr. Walker is an alumnus of Florida State University, where he earned his BS and JD degrees. He also completed post graduate studies at Oxford University and Emory University.

Steve chairs the OIS Board of Directors Governance Committee, and sits on the Board’s Compensation and Nominating Committees.

Jeffrey Chilton

Jeffrey Chilton serves as a Senior Product Architect for Objective Interface Systems, Inc. (OIS). Mr. Chilton has engineered core technology in every successful OIS product and has contributed to a variety of industry standards that are actively in use. He continues to provide leadership and core expertise to the OIS’s product development team.

Prior to OIS, Mr. Chilton led the design of a multi-platform distributed backup and archive system at UNITECH Software, Inc. He also designed and implemented a disk-based virtual drawing area extension to PC Paintbrush at ZSOFT Corporation. Mr. Chilton previously contributed to the core product development team at STSC, Inc. where he met Mr. Beckwith.

Mr. Chilton received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from University of Massachusetts and graduate computer science studies at University of Wisconsin. Mr. Chilton is the co-inventor on 5 international patents granted and 7 pending international patent applications.