Technology >> CEO Interviews >> June 11, 2001
ROBERT KRIST is Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Datum,
Inc. He joined Datum from Bridge Medical, Inc., a closely held medical
information technology company in Solana Beach, California, where he
most recently served as Chief Financial Officer. While at Bridge
Medical, he established internal controls for financial management of
the start-up and successfully guided the company through two rounds of
private equity financing, totaling $61 million. His broad background
also includes six years at McGaw, Inc., an Irvine, California,
pharmaceuticals supply company, where he began as Chief Financial
Officer and became President of McGaw's CAPS (Central Admixture Pharmacy
Services) Division. Prior to McGaw, he was Chief Financial Officer of
Denny's Inc., the popular restaurant franchise, from 1987 to 1991. He
also held other executive management positions during his eight-year
tenure with Denny's. Mr. Krist began his career with American Hospital
Supply Corporation. Mr. Krist holds an MBA in Finance from the
University of Southern California and a BS in Physics from Villanova
University. He is also a Certified Management Accountant. Profile
ERIK H. van der KAAY is President and Chief Executive Officer of
Datum Inc. and since January 2000, Chairman of the Board. He has
been a Director of the company since his arrival at Datum in
1998. From 1990 to 1998, he held various positions within Allen
Telecom, most recently as Executive Vice President. Mr. van der
Kaay is currently a Director of Comarco, Inc., RF MicroDevices
and TranSwitch Corporation. Profile
TWST: Could we begin with a brief overview and history of the company?Mr. van der Kaay: The company was founded in 1969 but started off in the
computer peripheral business, which has