Board of Directors

Robert Mao

Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer

Robert Y. L. Mao joined Energy Recovery’s Board of Directors in Sept. 2010 and was elected as Chairman of the Board in June 2019. Mr. Mao was appointed to the concurrent role as President and CEO in May 2020, after serving as Interim President and CEO since Nov. 2019. He brings to Energy Recovery extensive experience helping and directing equipment manufacturers to successfully expand into new product and geographic markets. His strong strategic and analytic skills can guide the diversification of Energy Recovery’s product line and its growth into new global markets.

Mr. Mao served as CEO of 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) from 2008-2010 and was on the company’s Board of Directors from 2007-2010. Mr. Mao successfully completed the sale of 3Com to Hewlett-Packard Company in Apr. 2010 and later served as the Chairman of HP China from 2013-2016. Prior to 3Com Corporation, Mr. Mao held executive positions at Norte Networks, Alcatel, and the U.S. multinational ITT in Asia and the United States. He also held CEO positions at Asian private companies selling industrial products into global markets.

Mr. Mao currently serves on the Board of the privately-held Ubee Interactive Corporation, a supplier of broadband access equipment and devices to multimedia and telecom service providers worldwide. Mr. Mao also served as a Board Director of Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co. Ltd., from 2018-2019, Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd. (FII) from 2017-2018, Cypress Semiconductors Corporation from 2014-2015, and Yulon-Nissan-Nissan Motor Company from 2004-2018.

The companies whose Boards Mr. Mao has served on cover an extensive range of industries and global markets including telecommunication, networking and information equipment and devices, semiconductors, automotive vehicles, software service, and other industrial products. Mr. Mao had also served as board member of international and national industry and trade associations.

Mr. Mao is a graduate of Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and a master’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering. He also holds a master’s degree in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Pamela Tondreau

Lead Independent Director

Pamela L. Tondreau joined Energy Recovery’s Board of Directors in July 2019.

Ms. Tondreau has over three decades of experience in the technology industry and private practice as a litigation and corporate attorney. In addition to her extensive experience navigating intellectual property, contract negotiation, domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, enterprise risk management, and corporate governance matters, she brings a proven history of cultivating excellence in company culture, ensuring diversity and inclusion, and establishing programs to grow and retain corporate talent.

Ms. Tondreau joined ON Semiconductor Corporation, also known as onsemi, as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer in Oct. 2021. Prior to that, from Apr.-July 2020, she served as a consultant to Infineon Technologies AG, which purchased Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. Prior to her consulting role, Ms. Tondreau served as Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary and Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Cypress from 2014-2020.

Prior to joining Cypress, Ms. Tondreau spent 13 years at Hewlett-Packard Company in various roles, including Chief Intellectual Property Counsel and Deputy General Counsel to the CTO, HP Labs, HP Networking, IP Licensing, Strategic Initiatives, Global Alliances, counsel to the Technology Committee of the Board, and counsel for the networking business including leading the acquisition of 3Com and integrating the China entity into HP. In addition, she supported the Chief Marketing Officer, the Chief Information Officer, and the EVP of Personal Systems, as well as serving as Corporate Secretary to the Technology Committee of the Board of Directors. Ms. Tondreau began her career as an associate at Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges.

Ms. Tondreau holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a J.D. from McGeorge School of Law.

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Alexander Buehler

Director

Alexander J. Buehler most recently served as President and CEO of the Brock Group, a leading provider of soft-craft services to the petrochemical, oil and gas refining, power, pharmaceutical, and LNG industries. From 2017-2021, he served as Executive Vice President for Global Resources at Intertek, a global, publicly traded company headquartered in London and major provider of assurance, testing, inspection, and certification services.

Previously, he served at Energy Maintenance Services (“EMS”) from 2014-2017, first as Chief Financial Officer and then as President and Chief Executive Officer, during which time he steered the company through the market downturn in oil and gas, repositioned the business as a leading integrity maintenance company, and led the marketing and sale of the business to First Reserve, a leading private equity company in the oil and gas space.

He became a member of the Company’s Board of Directors in Feb. 2015. From 2004-2011, Mr. Buehler held executive-level positions at Insituform Technologies, Inc. (now Aegion Corporation), a global leader in water infrastructure technology and services for municipalities and industry, including oil and gas. While at Insituform, Mr. Buehler worked in the U.S and abroad, most recently as Vice President of Europe, leading all European operations from its regional headquarters in Paris.

With substantial experience across industrial end markets (water, energy) including products and services, and multiple C-level roles at publicly traded and private equity-backed companies, Mr. Buehler is a highly impactful business executive with years of experience in leadership, general management, strategy, financial oversight, and operational execution. He currently serves as a board member and Chair of the Audit Committee for LiqTech Systems (NYSEMKT:LIQT) and has previously served as a board member and Chair of the Audit Committee for Viscount Systems.

Mr. Buehler received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Joan Chow

Director

Joan Chow joined Energy Recovery’s Board of Directors in 2021. Ms. Chow has extensive leadership experience in retail and marketing, consumer insights, and human resources matters, and has served as senior leader at some the world’s most recognizable companies.

Ms. Chow is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at ConAgra Foods, now known as Conagra Brands – one of North America’s leading packaged food companies. Prior to that, Ms. Chow spent extensive time with Sears Holdings Corporation in various marketing roles, including Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the company. She has also held executive positions with Information Resources Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products, Inc. and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Ms. Chow is a director at High Liner Foods and Spectrum Brands, where she is on their Audit Committees. She has previously served as a Chair of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Governance Committee at Welbilt, Inc., and as a board member of The Manitowoc Company, RC2 Corporation, and Feeding America.

Ms. Chow holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. with Distinction from Cornell University.

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Arve Hanstveit

Director

Arve Hanstveit has been a member of Energy Recovery’s Board of Directors and an investor in the company since Aug. 1995. Mr. Hanstveit’s early investment in the company, his experience as an investment advisor and securities analyst, his understanding of global financial markets, the global desalination market, and his extensive knowledge of Energy Recovery’s products make him a tremendous asset to the company’s board of directors.

From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Hanstveit also served as a member of the board at Kezzler AS, a privately held Norwegian company that delivers secure track-and-trace solutions to the pharmaceutical and consumer goods industry. His 20 years of experience as a professional investor and analyst includes serving as a partner, vice president and secretary of the board at A&G Sundel Collins, Inc., a Scandinavian investment bank. Mr. Hanstveit also sits on the board of the Norwegian American Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the New York Angels, an independent consortium of individual accredited angel investors that provides equity capital for early-stage companies in the New York City area.

Mr. Hanstveit holds a bachelor’s degree in Business and Accounting from the Norwegian School of Management as well as a master’s degree in Finance and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

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David Moon

Director

David W. Moon joined Energy Recovery’s Board of Directors in July 2023. Mr. Moon was previously President of Carrier Commercial Refrigeration (CCR), a division of Carrier Global Corporation, from 2020-2021. Based in Paris, CCR is a leading supplier of high-efficiency CO2 turnkey refrigeration systems and services to the food retail, processing, and storage segments and pharmaceutical segment in EMEA and Asia. Prior to that, Mr. Moon worked as an Advisor for Ares Management LLC on the acquisition of CoolSys, the U.S. market leader in commercial refrigeration and HVAC services. He joined the CoolSys Board of Directors post-acquisition.

Mr. Moon was President and Chief Operating Officer of Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration, a division of Lennox International, Inc., from 2006-2017. Heatcraft was the global OEM leader in commercial refrigeration equipment. Mr. Moon joined Lennox International, Inc. in 1998 holding various management positions in the United States, Singapore, and Australia.

Prior to that, Mr. Moon held various management positions at Allied Signal, Inc., Case Corporation, and Tenneco Oil Company in the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Germany. Mr. Moon served on the Board of Directors of American Woodmark Corporation from 2015-2020.

Mr. Moon brings 25 years of commercial/industrial refrigeration and commercial HVAC leadership, having served the global leaders in food retail, food processing, cold storage, pharmaceuticals, and telecom. He received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and an MBA from Texas A&M University.

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Colin Sabol

Director

Colin Sabol joined Energy Recovery’s Board of Directors in July 2023. Mr. Sabol is an accomplished business leader, strategist and dealmaker with over 20 years of experience in the global water and energy markets. From 2017-2022, Mr. Sabol was President of Measurement & Control Solutions at Xylem, a global water technology provider. From 2013-2017, he led a wide range of global business at Xylem including Analytical Instrumentation, Water Treatment, and the Dewatering pump rental businesses.

In 2006, Mr. Sabol joined ITT as VP Growth for the Fluid & Motion Control segment, where he led the transformation of a mechanical equipment portfolio into a technology and services leader and was instrumental in effecting the spin-off of Xylem from ITT in 2011.

Mr. Sabol first entered the water industry at General Electric, where he served as Chief Growth Officer of GE Water from 2003-2006.

He served on the board of Faradyne Motors, a JV between Xylem and Pentair from 2009-2017, and was Board Chair of Xylem Watermark, Xylem’s corporate social responsibility program from 2009-2017.

Colin holds a B.S. in Materials Engineering from Alfred University.

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