Officers of the Club
Board of Directors
President and Executive Director
Graham (Gray) Tompson, United States Naval Academy Class of 2007
Gray Tompson is an Energy industry professional and Commander in the US Navy Reserve.
Graduating from the US Naval Academy in 2007, Gray served aboard USS Klakring (FFG-42) and George H W Bush (CVN-77) before transitioning to the Reserves. He currently drills from Navy Reserve Center, Greensboro NC.
In civilian life, he has worked for Duke Energy since 2014 in Nuclear Maintenance, Large Account Management, and Project Development roles.
Gray is a former President of the US Naval Academy Alumni Association – Triangle Chapter and a fifth-generation (at least) North Carolinian.
He lives in Cary with his wife (Vicki) and children (Emily and Jay).
Director
Captain (ret) Craig Rankin, United States Naval Academy Class of 1975
Captain (ret) Craig Rankin, a native of Metuchen, New Jersey graduated from Metuchen High School in June 1971 and from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975.
He served on four nuclear-powered fast attack submarines culminating in command of USS Baltimore (SSN704). Following command, he served as Deputy Squadron Commander for Submarine Squadron SIX in Norfolk, Virginia.
Captain Rankin’s notable shore assignments include the Atlantic Fleet Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, Naval Reactors Headquarters, and National War College as a student and later on the faculty. He completed his active duty career as Deputy Director, Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), an organization with cradle-to-grave responsibility for the Trident Missile Program, including the D5 nuclear-tipped missile.
Following 30 years of active duty Captain Rankin worked at Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. (SPA) for 15 years leading Program and Analytic support for Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) and for the new Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN) development, first of class scheduled for initial patrol in 2031.
In 2018 Captain Rankin and his wife Tracie moved to Leland, NC.
Secretary
Alexander Dworjan, United States Naval Academy Class of 2010
Alexander Dworjan is a Sales Specialist at Red Hat, a technology company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to living in North Carolina, Alex’s Navy tours included as a nuclear-trained submarine officer onboard the USS Columbus SSN 762 stationed in Pearl Harbor. He finished his career teaching NROTC at Duke University.
Alex graduated in 2010 from the United States Naval Academy with a BS in Computer Science and in 2017 from Duke University with a Master of Engineering Management.
Treasurer
Andy Kell, Trestle Capital Partners
Andy Kell is a partner with Trestle Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank based in Raleigh, NC, that he helped found in 2003. He works with clients across all industries providing advice on mergers and acquisitions, capital formation and financing strategies. In addition, he is involved with a number of local start-ups, including udu, Inc., where he is a founder and VP of Finance, and BioFluidica, where he serves as interim CFO. Prior to joining Trestle, Andy worked as an investment banker with Greenhill & Co. and Bear, Stearns & Co. in New York, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.
Andy received a BBA summa cum laude in Finance / Organizational Behavior and Business Policy from Southern Methodist University, where he was a President’s Scholar, and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, where he was a Bank of America Fellow.
Andy and his wife Amy live in Cary, NC, with their three children, Jack, Chase and Madison.