Mel Lavitt joined Needham & Company in 2009. Mel’s professional career in investment banking has included hundreds of capital market transactions accounting for several billion dollars of equity and debt financing. In July 2007, he was vice chairman and managing director of C.E. Unterberg, Towbin, when it was purchased by Collins Stewart, LLC. Upon completion of the transaction, he formed Lavitt Group, LLC to advise private and public companies in finding and securing financing, structuring, and negotiating investment terms and advising on investor marketing strategy, but as of January 2009, his primary business affiliation is as a Senior Advisor to Needham. Mel started his career in investment banking in 1959 at Bear Stearns and then joined C.E. Unterberg, Towbin in 1962 and continued as a general partner and administrative managing director following the merger with L.F. Rothschild in 1977 at L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, Inc. until 1986. From June 1987 to August 1992, Mel ran his own financial advisory business, Lavitt Management Inc., before returning to C.E. Unterberg Towbin. He graduated from Brown University and serves as a Board member to several companies and institutions, including Jabil Circuit, Inc. and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Utah.