John M. Lervik, PhD, has served as a Director of Itera since 25 April, 2008. He was a founder of Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) in 1997, and served as FAST’s Chief Technology Officer to September 2001 overlooking all of the company research and product development activities. Dr. Lervik then served as the CEO of FAST through the acquisition by Microsoft in 2008. Following the acquisition, Dr. Lervik served as the Corporate Vice President of the Microsoft Enterprise Search Group. In 2005, Dr. Lervik was one of technology innovators named to the prestigious Forbes E-Gang. Lervik holds a PhD from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where he was awarded the best overall PhD in 1996/97.