John H. Dalton

JOHN H. DALTON is President of IPG Photonics Corporation, a fiber
optics company which designs, manufactures and sells a unique
line of high performance fiber amplifiers, Raman pump lasers and
fiber lasers for telecommunications and industrial applications.
Mr. Dalton served as the 70th Secretary of the Navy and was
recognized by the National Security Caucus as their prestigious
International Security Leadership Award recipient in 1997.
Secretary Dalton has had a distinguished career in government,
beginning as a naval officer. Serving in the Navy from 1964-1969,
he received naval nuclear power training and served aboard the
submarines USS BlueBack (as Supply and Commissary Officer) and
John C. Calhoun (as Main Propulsion Assistant, Communications
Officer and Weapons Officer). Secretary Dalton began his career
with the investment-banking firm of Goldman, Sachs & Company in
Dallas, Texas. After his first tour of appointed government
service, he was President of the Real Estate Division of the Gill
Companies of San Antonio, Texas. He then served as Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Capital Corporation. He was
later a Managing Director of Best Associates and Mason Best
Company, merchant banking firms headquartered in Houston and
Dallas respectively. He then managed the San Antonio office of
Stephens Inc., a Little Rock, Arkansas-based investment banking
firm. He serves on the Boards of Directors of four companies:
Cantor Exchange, eSpeed, Inc., Fresh DelMonte Produce, Inc., and
TransTechnology, Inc. In addition, he serves as a Special
Principal of Park Avenue Equity partners and is on the Advisory
Boards of North Star Reinsurance Companies and National Grid
Group. In 1971, he received a Master of Business Administration
degree from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the
University of Pennsylvania. Secretary Dalton attended Louisiana
State University for one year before attending the U.S. Naval
Academy. He graduated with distinction from Annapolis in 1964,
having served as Deputy Brigade Commander, the Academy’s number
two ranking position. He was a finalist in the Rhodes Scholarship
Competition.