Meet our leadership team

Barbara Ryan is the Co-Founder and Chairwoman of the Board.

Prior to becoming Chairwoman, Barbara served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Minitab, LLC.

In 1972, Barbara developed Minitab Statistical Software, with two colleagues, as a faculty member of the statistics department at Penn State University. Their goal was to develop a software program to perform statistical calculations so that students could concentrate more on statistical theory and less on mathematical calculations.  Over time, under Barbara’s leadership, Minitab developed and grew to become the market leader for analytics used in the quality field and continuous improvement. 

Before establishing Minitab while at Penn State, she taught statistics at the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University.

Barbara earned a bachelor’s degree from Queens College and a doctorate in mathematics from Cornell University. Barbara has also held several elected offices in the American Statistical Association and has served on its board of directors. She is currently a fellow of the organization.

Jeff is the Chief Executive Officer, President, and Board Member.

Prior to Minitab, Jeff held the role of Chief Executive Officer and board director of Dentsply Sirona, Inc. (NASDAQ: XRAY), the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies and a member of the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500. Prior to that, Jeff served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRO) and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Schick Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHK).  

Jeff began his career at Bear Stearns in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance, and then went on to serve in various executive capacities, including Managing Director at Greystone & Co., Inc. 

Jeff holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated with a BA in Economics and a BBA in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with the distinction of Commonwealth Scholar.   

Jeff is the Founder and Managing Partner of Black Briar Capital, a private investment firm, and a Marshall Goldsmith Certified Coach.

Jeff was named to the Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team as one of the best CEOs in healthcare in 2015, 2016 and 2017, for his leadership at Sirona and Dentsply Sirona and to the Madison Dearborn Partners Executive Hall of Fame. Under his direction, his companies won multiple Top Employer Awards across multiple countries. 

Ellis Smith is a Board Member and Advisor to the CEO.

Ellis Smith is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Pearl Software, a leading provider of products that check digital design issues at the functional or register transfer level of chip design flow.

Prior to Blue Pearl, Ellis served as President and CEO of multiple software companies.  In 2003, Ellis served as President and CEO of Orora Design Technologies. Before that, Ellis was the CEO of TransEDA. Before joining TransEDA, Mr. Smith was president and CEO of Exemplar Logic, Inc. Before Exemplar, Ellis was president of CrossCheck Technology, Inc.

Additionally, Ellis served as an international director of EDA sales for CADAM, an IBM Company, as an international sales manager for Versatec, a Xerox Company, and as an international application engineer for the Dictaphone Corporation. He began his career as an engineer for 3M Company.

Mr. Smith has a BS from La Salle University, studied physics at the University of Oregon and advanced electronics in the U.S. Navy.

Sharen Standbridge is a Board Member.

Preceding her time as a Board Member, Sharen served as President of Minitab. Before that, Sharen served in various leadership positions, with a focus on sales and marketing.

Sharen initially joined Minitab’s newly established UK office where she quickly created a fully functioning Sales and Marketing operation. She then went on to establish Minitab offices in Paris, Munich and Hong Kong along with expanding Minitab’s global partner network.

Prior to joining Minitab, Sharen was a Key Accounts Executive at Carlton Cards, a UK subsidiary of American Greetings, the world’s second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Prior to Carlton Cards. Sharen was Customer Services Manager at Russell Hobbs Tower a global manufacturer and supplier of fast-moving consumer goods, with a primary focus on specifying in-house software requirements, to provide efficiencies in customer care and after sales services for retailers and global partners.

Sharen graduated from Birmingham University with a BA in Economics where she was an active user of Minitab’s DOS based release 7.

Lynn Blankenship is the Chief of Staff and Senior Human Resources Advisor.

Prior to joining Minitab in 2019, Lynn held the position of Vice President of Human Resources for Dentsply Sirona, having led HR and Administrative Operations for the company and its affiliates through a series of acquisitions and mergers while developing world-class, people-centric cultures. In addition to his 20 years of Human Resources experience and expertise, he has served in various leadership capacities for global professional service firms and led the development of highly successful not for profit organizations.

Lynn holds a BBS degree in Accounting from Texas Tech University and an MDIV degree from Southwestern Seminary.

Christopher Larsen is the Chief Revenue Officer.

Prior to Minitab, Chris was a Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at AvePoint, a leading cloud software and services provider for data migration, management, and protection, where he led AvePoint’s global sales organization, delivering solutions to the global marketplace that help customers migrate, manage, and protect Office 365 and SharePoint data. Prior to AvePoint, Chris was Chief Revenue Officer of Model N, a leading global software provider of cloud-based revenue management solutions to life sciences, high tech, and manufacturing companies, where he led the successful transformation from the on-premises to cloud-based SaaS model.  

Earlier in his career, Chris held multiple senior leadership positions including Executive Vice President of Global Field Operations at both Progress Software and TIBCO and President of SAP America.

Chris holds a BS in Business Administration from Wake Forest University.

Bill Vesnesky is the Chief Financial Officer and a Board Member.

Prior to joining Minitab in 2002, Bill served as Treasurer & Secretary at Kamoon Inc., a software management solutions company, and Miradiant Global Network, Inc., a web enabled B2B financial settlement network solutions company.

From 1995 to 2000, Bill was the Assistant Treasurer at UPM-Kymmene, Inc., a paper sales and distribution company and the North American Headquarters and Subsidiary of the Finnish forest industry company UPM-Kymmene Oyj (NASDAQ OMX: UPMKY). From 1993 to 1995, Bill served as the Senior Control Auditor at J. Crew Group, Inc.

Bill began his career in public accounting in 1987 where he assisted with company audits and the preparation of audited financial statements as well as various corporate and individual income tax returns.

Bill graduated from Slippery Rock University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree.

Joshua Zable is the Chief Marketing and Strategic Planning Officer and Board Member.

Prior to Minitab, Josh served as a Principal and Senior Vice President of Black Briar Capital, a private investment firm. Prior to Black Briar Capital, Josh was a Vice President at Dentsply Sirona (NASDAQ: XRAY) where he held various leadership positions involving marketing, communications, investor relations and strategic planning. Prior to that, Josh was a Vice President at Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRO).

Josh began his career at BlackRock, Inc. in product marketing, product development, product management, marketing communications and information management. He later went on to lead multiple research platforms at global broker-dealers and investment banks, including serving as Managing Director, Head of Global Healthcare Research at Natixis Bleichroeder, the largest investment bank in France. 

Josh holds an MA in Applied Economics from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and graduated with class honors with a BA in Economics and Creative Writing. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Acera, LLC, a leader in LED medical illumination.  Throughout his career, Josh has been recognized with multiple awards, including being named to the Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team, as well as being named a top executive by Alumni Spotlight, the American Business Awards, Best in Biz Awards, the International Business Awards, IR Magazine and Ragan.

Todd Hershbine is the Chief Human Resources Officer.

Before joining Minitab in 1998, he worked in human resources at Penn State, where he also served as an adjunct lecturer for Penn State’s Labor Studies department.

Todd earned a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations from Saint Francis College. Todd served in the U.S. Navy where he received a National Defense Medal, a Humanitarian Medal and a Letter of Commendation. He is also a member of The Society for Human Resources.

Jennifer Roan is the Vice President of Software Development.

Jennifer began her career at Minitab as an intern while she was an undergraduate at Virgina Tech, providing technical support and writing training material for Minitab Statistical Software. After graduating with a master’s degree in Statistics from Penn State, she joined Minitab in 2000 as a Statistical Quality Assurance Analyst. Throughout her tenure, she has held multiple senior positions including Technical Advisory Program Manager and Director of Program Management. 

Throughout her career, Jennifer has been integral in supporting the growth of the Minitab product portfolio. Her dedication to continuous improvement and creating exceptional customer experiences has contributed to Minitab's reputation for delivering best-in-class solutions that drive business success across diverse sectors.

Daniel Michaeli is the Vice President of Data Protection and Intellectual Property.

Prior to Minitab, Dan served as the Vice President of Intellectual Property, Regulatory and Compliance at Candid Co, a fast-moving start-up in the medical device space.  Before that, Dan served as the Vice President of Worldwide Intellectual Property at Dentsply Sirona (NASDAQ: XRAY). Over his 21-year tenure at Dentsply Sirona and its affiliates, he held a variety of leadership positions in regulatory, scientific development and product management.

Dan began his career as a Research Associate at a Harvard Medical School research laboratory where he developed medical image processing algorithms to predict and prevent orthopedic dysfunction.

Dan holds an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University from where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He is a published scientific author, patent holder, and advisor in the medical device field.

Steve Orlich is the Vice President of Research and Design.

Since joining Minitab in 1999, Steve has held various leadership roles in Product Management and Research. Steve began his Minitab career in Software Quality Assurance developing software testing protocols to ensure the reliability and accuracy of Minitab statistical algorithms, eventually managing and leading the department for over six years. Drawing on his experiences collaborating with internal and external stakeholders. Steve then assumed responsibility as the Technical Product Manager for Minitab Statistical Software where he participated in defining product strategy and product roadmaps.

Steve’s diverse experiences and leadership roles, along with his background in business and statistics, enable him to support Minitab’s mission and strategic goals by identifying opportunities for continued innovation and delivering capabilities that make data analysis easier.

Steve holds an MBA with Honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and graduated with a Master’s in Applied Statistics, a BS in Statistics, and a BS in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Steve is also a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma National Honor Society.

Angela Head is the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Minitab, LLC

Angela Head is the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Minitab, LLC. Prior to Minitab, Angela served as the Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Allscripts Healthcare, LLC, where she provided commercial transaction and strategic legal support for the healthplan, procurement and business development teams.  Prior to that, she served as the General Counsel at Tolt Solutions, Inc., where she provided legal, compliance and employment counsel to the company.   

Angela is a strategic in-house attorney with over 19 years of diverse legal experience in corporate law, commercial transactions, litigation management, corporate governance and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and labor employment across the healthcare, engineering, and software industries. Her extensive expertise involves supporting successful integration of new acquisitions, negotiating and closing deals, and consulting on new software and product development for publicly traded, privately held and private equity-backed companies.  

Angela holds her JD from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois and her BA from the Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois.