Lawton W. Fitt

Lawton W. Fitt is currently independent chair of Ciena's board of directors. She has served as a director of Ciena since November 2000, and as chair of Ciena’s audit committee from October 2004 to the end of December 2024. From October 2002 to March 2005, Ms. Fitt served as Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. From 1979 to October 2002, Ms. Fitt was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs & Co., where she was a partner from 1994, and a managing director from 1996 to October 2002. Ms. Fitt holds a bachelor of arts degree from Brown University and a M.B.A. degree from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Ms. Fitt also serves on the board of directors of The Carlyle Group, L.P. and The Progressive Corporation, and previously of Thomson Reuters.