Executive Team

Ronald Frankel

President and CEO
Ron Frankel has served as a member of Synacor’s board of directors and as President and Chief Executive Officer since April 2001. Prior to joining Synacor, Frankel served as CEO at Perks.com, Inc. He held the position of President of MGM Interactive, the interactive division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., as well as SVP, Marketing and Sales at Kenfil Distribution. From 1988 to 1991, Frankel served in several executive positions at Softview, Inc., lastly as SVP of Marketing and Sales. Frankel attended the University of California at Berkeley and received a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law Center.

Tim Peterman

Chief Operating Officer
Tim Peterman, Chief Operating Officer, joins Synacor after serving six years at Scripps Network Interactive (SNI), a diversified media enterprise, most recently as SVP of Interactive Media. In his tenure at Scripps, Peterman helped guide the company’s expanding presence in the Internet commerce marketplace and was responsible for acquisition and operations of Shopzilla, a leading comparison shopping service. Previously, Peterman spent three years at Interactive Corp, (IAC), where he was CFO of the ecommerce division (primarily HSN) as well as CFO of the cable division. Prior to IAC, Tim held senior financial positions with Tribune Company and Sinclair Broadcasting. Tim began his career at KPMG Peat Marwick and is a CPA. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Kentucky.

George Chamoun

Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Co-Founder
As Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Synacor, George Chamoun oversees all aspects of the company’s customer relations and external communications activities. Chamoun co-founded Synacor in 2000 through the merger of MyPersonal, a portal infrastructure company, with Chek.com, a messaging infrastructure provider based in Buffalo. A co-founder and president of Chek.com, Chamoun was a 1999 recipient the Ernst & Young “Upstate New York Entrepreneur of the Year” award for his accomplishments with the company. Chamoun was recognized in 2009 as one of the 40 most influential individuals under the age of 40 in the cable and telecommunications industry. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Ross Winston

Chief Technology Officer
Ross Winston, Synacor’s Chief Technology Officer since August 2006, was previously our VP of Engineering. Winston was campus-wide Information Systems Coordinator for the University at Buffalo, where he managed the university’s Internet portals and related applications. Previously, he was an independent consultant and served as the lead developer for two software and web development companies. He holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Computer Science, University at Buffalo.

CJ Singh

Vice President, Product and Engineering
Singh joins the company after three years as director of engineering and product development with Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), where he was responsible for the company’s development centers in Latin America. Previously, Singh served four years as senior principal engineer with Oracle, where he architected and developed innovative products and researched new technologies for Oracle’s E-Business Suite. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Science degree from Gulbarga University in India, and earned a Masters in Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Theodore May

Senior VP, Strategy and Business Affairs
Theodore May currently holds the position of Senior VP of Strategy and Business Affairs, and previously served as VP of Content for Synacor since July 2005. Previously, May held various positions, including VP of Broadband at America Online, Inc. He served as Director of Strategic Planning and VP of New Media at Cablevision Systems Corp., and as a VP in the Controller’s Division at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. May also was the Associate Director of Business Planning and Development at CBS Broadcasting, Inc. He holds an M.B.A., New York University and a B.F.A., The Julliard School.

Julia Culkin

VP, Human Resources
As the Vice President of Human Resources, Julia Culkin is responsible for leading Synacor's global human resource efforts and managing and developing the human resource team. She also focuses on attracting, retaining and developing Synacor's employees who promote and strengthen the company culture and Synacor's unique products. Prior to joining Synacor, Culkin was a consultant with Towers Perrin where she worked with Fortune 1000 companies on various human resource related projects including executive compensation analyses, change management practices and human resources practices competitive research. Culkin's human resource experience also includes Pitney Bowes. Culkin holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University at Buffalo.

Frank Codella

VP, Sales
Frank Codella has served as Synacor’s VP of Sales since February 2002. Previously, Codella was VP of Sales and Business Development at Global Crossing Ltd. In addition, he served as President and CEO at Integrated Personnel & Systems Solutions, Inc.; Sales Director at Lucent Technologies, Inc., and held various positions in the Global Enterprise Division, at AT&T Inc. Codella is a co-founder and serves as a Director of MedRecovery Management LLC, a technology company that provides coordination of workers’ compensation benefits services to health insurers. Codella holds an M.B.A., Rochester Institute of Technology, a B.S. in Economics and Political Science, Brockport State College and also earned an Advanced Certificate from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Bill Lindquist

VP, Marketing
Bill Lindquist is Synacor’s VP of Marketing, serving in this position since December, 2008. Prior to joining Synacor, Lindquist was with Frontier Communications as Regional VP, Residential Marketing and most recently as VP, National Directory Services. Before Frontier, Lindquist held Director and VP positions at Cablevision System Corp. within their Product Management and Marketing Group and started his career in the Brand Management Group at R.J.Reynolds. Lindquist has an MBA in Marketing from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History from Trinity College, Hartford, CT.