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Advisory Directors

Berkshire's Advisory Directors are individuals well known to Berkshire who participate in specific activities that arise from their areas of expertise, including deal origination, due diligence investigation, investment deliberation and ongoing representation of the Firm in portfolio company governance.

J. Christopher Clifford served as Managing Director of Berkshire Partners from its founding to 2008 at which time he transitioned to an Advisory Director of the Firm. Chris has more than 30 years of experience in private equity investing. Before founding Berkshire, he was a Partner of the Thomas H. Lee Company for 12 years. Chris has participated as a principal in numerous transactions involving corporate acquisitions, financing, and ongoing management. He received a B.A. from Colgate University and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Randall A. Hack joined Berkshire Partners as an Advisory Director in 2001 in order to assist the Firm with due diligence investigation and investment deliberation, and to serve on portfolio company boards. Randy is currently President and CEO of Capstone Capital, an investment firm that he founded. He has served since 1995 as a Senior Managing Director of Nassau Capital, an investment firm that manages a portfolio of investments exclusively on behalf of Princeton University's endowment. Previously, Randy served as President of the Princeton University Investment Company, which has management responsibility for Princeton's endowment. Randy received a B.A. from Princeton University and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Robert S. Kaplan joined Berkshire Partners as an Advisory Director in 2009. Rob is currently a Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School and a Senior Director of the Goldman Sachs Group which he joined in 1983. He was previously vice chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group and a member of the firm's Management Committee. For fiscal 2007, Rob was Acting President and Chief Executive Officer of Harvard Management Company. He received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from the University of Kansas. Prior to attending business school, Rob was a certified public accountant at Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co.

John P. Kelly joined Berkshire Partners as an Advisory Director in 2010. He was most recently Executive Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Crown Castle International Corporation (NYSE: CCI). Prior to his appointment as Executive Vice-Chairman, John served as President and Chief Executive Officer of CCI from August 2001 to July 2008. Previously he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of CCI. John joined CCI in July 1998 and was named President and COO of Crown Communication, Inc. in December of that year. From January 1990 to July 1998, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Cellular Company L.P. From December 1995 to July 1998, John was also President and Chief Operating Officer of Hawaiian Wireless, Inc., an affiliate of Atlantic Cellular. He serves as a Director of CCI and NEW Asurion Corporation, and as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of FiberTower Corporation (NASDAQ: FTWR). John received a B.S. from Purdue University.

Woon Fai (Tommy) Liu joined Berkshire Partners as an Advisory Director in 2010. Tommy is the President of TL Group Limited & Associates, a consulting firm based in China that services U.S. and European companies. The TL Group offers expertise on finance and operations due diligence, operations improvement, cost reduction, lean manufacturing, IP protection, anti-counterfeiting, strategic sourcing, government relationships, compliance and sales development. Prior to the TL Group, he was the Managing Director of Holmes Products Far East for ten years. Before joining Holmes, he was the Finance Director of Johnson & Johnson Asia and was a chartered CPA with Arthur Young UK. Tommy is an honorary citizen of Dongguan City and holds chairmanship of several trade associations and chambers of commerce in China and Hong Kong.

Kenneth P. Pucker joined Berkshire Partners as an Advisory Director in 2010. He is currently the Principal of Brand Brucke Holdings, an investment company with a focus on idea-based consumer brands. Ken served as interim CEO of MBT, a Berkshire portfolio company, from 2008 to 2009. Prior to MBT, Ken served as Chief Operating Officer of Timberland (NYSE: TBL). After joining the company in 1992, Ken served in multiple roles at Timberland over a fifteen year period. During his tenure with the company, the brand grew by tenfold to over $1.6 billion in sales and the company was recognized for nine consecutive years as one of Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies, as a Forbes magazine's Platinum Investment and as a top ten ethical company according to Business Ethics magazine. Earlier in his career, he worked as an Analyst in the Municipal Finance Department at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and as a Research Associate at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Ken serves on the Board of Directors of Timbuk2 Designs, a messenger bag brand and retailer, and the Rashi School in Newton Massachusetts. He received a B.A. from Middlebury College and a M.S. from M.I.T. Sloan School of Management.

Thomas E. Whiddon joined Berkshire Partners as an Advisory Director in 2005 with the objective of finding interim operating roles within the Firm's portfolio companies. His assignments have included senior operating roles at Bare Escentuals and Waterworks, and directorships of Carter's and Bare Escentuals. Until his retirement in 2003, Tom had been Executive Vice President, Logistics and Technology of Lowe's Companies since 2000. He was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Lowe's from 1996 to 2000. Previously, Tom was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Zale Corporation.