Lee Gordon – Co-founder
Lee is Morningstar’s co-founder. He retired from his CEO role on June 30, 2023, but still serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Morningstar Corporation. He has 40 years of experience in the photovoltaics (PV) industry. From 1993 until mid 2023, Lee led Morningstar in becoming a leading manufacturer of solar controllers and inverters, setting new standards in performance, innovative features, quality & reliability. His commitment to infusing integrity and ethics into customer service, product development and employee management has resulted in over 4 million solar controllers sold worldwide. Prior to co-founding Morningstar, Lee was chairman and co-founder of Integrated Power Corporation, a global PV and PV/hybrid systems company that eventually was acquired by Westinghouse Electric Company. Lee holds a BS in Economics from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from University of Virginia.
Bill Mellema – Chief Executive Officer
Bill joined Morningstar in 2000 as a design engineer in the new product development group. His career trajectory at Morningstar spans product design, support services, management, and strategy, and on July 1, 2023, Bill became Morningstar’s CEO. Prior to taking on the CEO position, Bill was the Director of Product Management where he had major responsibilities for establishing Morningstar’s Integrated Series and launching new SureSine off-grid inverters and GenStar MPPT DC Charging Systems. Before his role as Director of Product Management, Bill’s responsibilities included oversight of the engineering team and technical support operations. He is a member of the Board of Directors and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from University of Maryland College Park.
Ivan Jadric – Director of Engineering
Ivan joined Morningstar after 22 years at Johnson Controls’ Chillers Business, where he held positions as Power Electronics Engineer, Engineering Manager of Power Electronics Development, Technology and Innovation Manager for Power Electronics, and Manager of Global Chillers Strategic Programs. His work on power electronics applications earned him 37 US patents. He holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Center for Power Electronics Systems) and a Laurea Degree in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic of Turin, Italy. Ivan also attended University of Zagreb (Croatia), and is fluent in English, Croatian and Italian as well as basic French and German. He directs the Engineering and Technical Support teams at Morningstar’s Maryland facility.
Qing Kou – Director of Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management
Qing has over 30 years of experience in the solar industry. He has been serving as Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management since May 2012. Previously he served as Engineering Manager from January 2007 to May 2012. Prior to this role, Qing was a Design Engineer since joining Morningstar in 1998. Mr. Kou has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2008. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from YanShan University and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Jim McGrath – Director of Sales
Jim serves as Morningstar’s global sales lead. He was formerly Vice President of Sales with Stion Corporation and Sunwize Technologies where he gained his solar industry experience and familiarity with thin-film solar modules, inverters and balance of system components for grid-tied and off-grid systems. Prior to these two positions, Jim was employed by Motorola for 20 years which included authority over business development, product management and marketing operations in Japan, China, and the U.S. He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from Illinois Institute of Technology.
Brad Berwald – Director of Product Marketing
Brad brings nearly 20 years of product management and technical sales experience in the RE power electronics industry to his role as Director of Product Marketing at Morningstar Corporation. His expertise in Global Account Management, Technical Marketing & Training, as well as product development has enabled him to grow and take on many new challenges at Morningstar. In his current role, Brad oversees all marketing strategy and campaigns to help Morningstar grow its global business and brand to meet the evolving needs of the remote power industry. Brad holds a BSEE and a Marketing-focused MBA from Alfred University. He serves on the Board of Directors and his contributions have assisted Morningstar Corporation in becoming the world’s leader in solar charge controllers and inverters.
Kathy Yost – Human Resources Manager
Kathy reports to the CEO and manages all facets of human resources including recruiting, payroll, and employee healthcare and retirement benefits. She joined Morningstar in 2022 after working for several years as the Head of H.R. Operations for a large North American recycling company . Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree in H.R. Management from Strayer University and works out of Morningstar’s Jessup, MD office.
Keam Seng – Operations Manager
Keam joined Morningstar in June 2021 with 10+ years’ experience in finance, global supply chain, and sales operations in the healthcare medical device industry. Keam’s responsibilities in Morningstar include overseeing and managing the company’s overall supply chain, logistics strategy, operations to maximize the process efficiency and productivity, and finance & accounting. Keam holds a bachelor’s degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) from Pennsylvania State University and is based in the Newtown, PA office.