Gary Daichendt is the founder and Chairman of the commercial real estate firm, Theory R Properties. Gary is best known for his work at Cisco Systems, Inc. during its period of highest and record achieving growth.  He served as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations, Cisco’s second highest ranking executive.  His career also includes the position President and Chief Operating Officer of Nortel Networks Corporation in 2005. Gary has extensive public company board experience. He has served on the public boards of NCR Corporation, Polycom, Emulex and ShoreTel. Gary currently serves on the board of Juniper Networks and the advisory boards of multiple private high tech companies. He has also served on the boards of multiple Christian organizations including Azusa Pacific University, Walk Thru the Bible, Living on the Edge, and NAEN Ministries.

Gary joined Cisco in 1994 as Vice President of Intercontinental Operations and soon became Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. In 1998, Gary was promoted to Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations with worldwide responsibility for sales, support, distribution, manufacturing, and strategic alliances.  He led a team of 12,000 employees in over 100 countries, increasing operational revenues and profits by over 50% per annum.

Prior to joining Cisco, he spent 10 years at IBM in various engineering, sales, marketing, and management positions and 8 years at Wang Laboratories serving as Vice President of Central Operations and Vice President of Marketing. He is co-author of the book, I-Operations. He holds a M.S. in Mathematics from Ohio State University and a B.A. from Youngstown State University. He and his wife, Cathy, reside in California.