Bhushan Kulkarni
President & CEO
Bhushan Kulkarni was born in India and came to the United States in 1985 to pursue graduate studies at West Virginia University. After earning his M.S. in Engineering, he joined the Ford Motor Company as a Project Engineer. While at Ford, Bhushan decided to follow his dream of building his own company.
Bhushan established himself as a master at growing businesses in his relatively short career as an entrepreneur. Most recently, since its inception in 1993, he has grown GDI Infotech from a start-up to a profitable business solutions provider. GDI has been named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies three times and named the fastest growing private company in the state of Michigan in 1999 and 2000.
Bhushan’s team-building and open-book approach to management has had a powerfully positive effect on the company’s development. Employees are encouraged to contribute strategic ideas for business growth and profitability. This approach has allowed Bhushan to build a dynamic management team and to transition his involvement in GDI to the visionary and oversight role that is crucial to the next stage of GDI’s development.
Bhushan was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Michigan Technology Services for 2001. He has received the American Dreamer Award, "40 under 40" recognition and has been listed in Who’s Who in Technology Services by Crain’s Business Weekly Magazine. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce and is also serving on the Executive Committee for Ann Arbor SPARK and on the Board of Walsh College of Business and Management Studies. Bhushan has held previous board positions with the Ann Arbor IT Zone, Ann Arbor Art Center, Information Technology Association of Michigan (ITEAM) and the American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI).
Harold ‘Red’ Poling
Former CEO, Ford Motor Company
Born in Michigan, Harold "Red" Poling grew up in Fairfax, Virginia as one of four children of an auto mechanic and a nurse. No stranger to hard work, he started working at age 12, cutting and laying sod, as well as helping his father at work. At 17, two weeks after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Navy. Later, after finishing his MBA in accounting, he took a job with Ford in 1951.
Harold was elected chairman of Ford Motor Company in March 1990 and held that position until his retirement in 1994. Beginning in 1964, he held various executive management positions within the company, including leadership of Ford of Europe and Ford North American Automotive Operations. As head of Ford of Europe, he guided the subsidiary to record earnings. Harold was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Ford of Europe in 1985 and Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer in 1987. He was elected to the Ford Board of Directors in 1979.
Harold is currently a Director of Shell Oil Company, Flint Ink Corp., Kellogg Company, Meritor Automotive Inc. and Thermadyne Holdings Corp. He is a Board Consultant for The LTV Corp., serves on the Investment Banking Advisory Board of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and is a member of the Board of Directors and a Trustee of William Beaumont Hospital.
Robert Eaton
Former CEO, Chrysler Corporation
Robert Eaton grew up in the small Kansas town of Arkansas City before he went to KU and then became CEO of Chrysler's company, now called DaimlerChrysler AG.
Robert is the retired Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG, a manufacturer of automobiles and has previously been the Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG from 1998 until 2000, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Chrysler Corporation from 1993 until 1998 and Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Chrysler Corporation from 1992 until 1993.
Other directorships and memberships Robert has been involved with are as a Fellow in the Society of Automotive Engineers, a Fellow in the Engineering Society of Detroit and in the National Academy of Engineering.
George Levy
Executive Vice President and CFO
George Levy earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA in 1968 and joined the General Electric R&D Center. After five years and publication of his first book, he moved into academia. George continued his career in academia as a professor for over 20 years. During his tenure, he taught in the Chemistry and Biophysics programs, as well as in an interdisciplinary graduate Entrepreneurship program.
At the beginning of the second decade of his academic career, George and his wife started a software firm that became an Inc. 500 company in 1989. That same year the company was sold, providing its investors with a profitable exit. The process of growing his first company enhanced his interest in entrepreneurship and developing technology businesses.
George offers broad experience in corporate and financial strategy and vast knowledge of how businesses work. GDI is George's fourth Inc. 500 company.
Jack Reinelt
Former CEO, Software Services Corporation
Jack Reinelt was President of Software Services Corporation for most of the 1990’s until that successful company was acquired by AppNet, which itself was acquired by Commerce One. Jack’s role at Software Services was to lead that company from a small IT staffing firm to a comprehensive IT services organization with both staffing and managed services provided to a broad range of clients. In his last position at Commerce One as Vice President, Jack was responsible for integrating several of their regional operations.
Jack then began his career at IBM. Subsequently he joined Sun Information Systems and then moved on to work at DiversiTech, where he was Director of Sales. Prior to becoming the President of Software Services, Jack was head of Sales and then a General Manager.
Jack is currently the Managing Director of Tele Atlas Europe.