Member Bio - Daniel S. Simpkins

Dan Simpkins is an experienced entrepreneur who founded and led two successful

startup companies: SALIX Technologies, a telecommunications pioneer;

and Hillcrest Labs, a consumer electronics innovator. As CEO of Hillcrest Labs,

which he founded in 2001, Simpkins has guided the company to introduce

groundbreaking user experiences for television, and to develop exceptional

expertise in sensors. Before founding Hillcrest, he led SALIX Technologies for

over a decade, managing the company from inception to its becoming a leader

in VoIP, and then to its acquisition by Tellabs, Inc. for $300 million. Simpkins

is both a business and technical leader: he teaches, writes about, and speaks

about entrepreneurship, and he holds 19 U.S. patents in the fields of interactive

television and telecommunications. In addition to his business activities, he is a

member of the board and Executive Committee of the Charles E. Smith Jewish

Day School, a member of the Board of Trustees of his synagogue, Kol Shalom,

and a member of the administrative board of the Cornell University Council.