Board of Directors

Morris Young co-founded AXT in 1986 and has served as a director since 1989. Dr. Young served as our Chairman of the Board of Directors from February 1998 to May 2004 and as our president and chief executive officer from 1989 to May 2004. From 2004 until his retirement in 2006, Dr. Young served as our chief technology officer. He was reappointed as our chief executive officer on July 16, 2009 and Chairman of the Board of Directors on August 12, 2021. From 1985 to 1989, Dr. Young was a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Young has a B.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, a M.S. degree in metallurgy from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in metallurgy from Polytechnic University. 

Jesse Chen has served as one of our directors since February 1998 and was our Chairman of the Board of Directors from May 2004 until October 2007, at which time he was appointed our lead independent director. Mr. Chen served as our Chairman of the Board of Directors from March 2009 until August 12, 2021. Since May 1997, Mr. Chen has served as a managing director of Maton Ventures, an investment company. From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Chen served as chief executive officer of BusLogic, Inc., a fabless semiconductor and computer peripherals company. Mr. Chen serves on the board of directors of a private company. Mr. Chen has a B.S. degree in aeronautical engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan and a M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Loyola Marymount University.

David C. Chang, Ph.D. has served as one of our directors since December 2000. Dr. Chang co-founded The Global Maximum Educational Opportunities, Inc., which provides study abroad programs in China for U.S. undergraduate students, in 2011 and became its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in August 2013. Dr. Chang has served as president of Polytechnic University in New York (now known as the Tandon School of Engineering, New York University) from 1994 to 2005 and chancellor from 2005 to 2013, and Professor Emeritus at New York University since 2013. Previously, Dr. Chang was dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Arizona State University. Dr. Chang served as a director of the NSF/Industry Corporate Research Center for Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Computer Aided Design from 1981 to 1989. Dr. Chang was a member of the board of directors of Time Warner Cable Inc. from 2004 to 2016. Dr. Chang has a M.S. degree and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Harvard University and a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.

Christine Russell has served as one of our directors since December 2019. Ms. Russell also serves on the board of directors and as audit committee chair of both QuickLogic Corporation (Nasdaq: QUIK) and eGain Corporation (Nasdaq: EGAN). She is chairman emeritus and a director on the board of SVDX (Silicon Valley Directors Exchange), a professional organization that provides a forum for education, conversation about current issues, and peer interaction for boards of directors of Silicon Valley companies. From 2018 to 2020, Ms. Russell served as chief financial officer of PDF Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDFS), a provider of yield improvement technologies for the IC manufacturing process life cycle. She previously served as chief financial officer of Uni-Pixel, Inc., a manufacturer of touch sensor films, which was sold to a China-based firm. Other companies include Vendavo, Inc., a SaaS-based pricing optimization software company addressing the Global 2000 and EAG, Inc. (Evans Analytical Group), a global provider of analytical testing for technology companies, including major semiconductor, chemicals and pharmaceuticals firms. Prior to EAG, she served in the roles of both chief financial officer and EVP of business development at Virage Logic Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed semiconductor intellectual property company that was sold to Synopsys, Inc. in 2010. Ms. Russell holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Santa Clara University.