Patrick H. Nettles, Ph.D. has served as Ciena's executive  chairman of the board of directors since May 2001. Dr. Nettles  previously served as the Company's chairman of the board of directors  and chief executive officer since October 2000. From April 1994 until  October 2000, Dr. Nettles served as president, chief executive officer  and director of the Company, and as director and chief executive officer from February until April 1994.

From 1992 until 1994, Dr. Nettles was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Blyth Holdings Inc., a publicly-held supplier of client/server software. From late 1990 through 1992, Dr. Nettles was president and chief executive officer of Protocol Engines Inc., a development stage enterprise, formed as an outgrowth of Silicon Graphics Inc., and targeted toward very large scale integration based solutions for high-performance computer networking. From 1989 to 1990, Dr. Nettles was chief financial officer of Optilink, a venture start-up that was acquired by DSC Communications.

Dr. Nettles is a Trustee for the California Institute of Technology.   Dr. Nettles also serves on the board of directors of Axcelis  Technologies, Inc., The Progressive Corporation and Apptrigger, Inc., a  privately held company.