Leadership Team
Our experienced leadership team is deeply committed to our mission, vision, and values, drawing on their collective expertise to drive innovation and disciplined execution. Together, they foster an engineering-led, people-first culture, build and maintain long-term customer relationships, and lead the organization in driving growth, innovation, and efficiency across the business.
John Forsyth became chief executive officer of Cirrus Logic in January 2021. Forsyth, who was named president in 2020, joined Cirrus Logic in 2014 through the acquisition of Wolfson Microelectronics. Previously, Forsyth served as chief strategy officer, responsible for driving Cirrus Logic’s product strategy, and as vice president of marketing, responsible for building and leading Cirrus Logic’s team focusing on voice biometrics. Forsyth began his career working in handheld device development for Psion in London and has more than 20 years’ experience in embedded technology. Prior to joining Wolfson in 2012, Forsyth led product development and strategy in several technology companies, including serving as chief technical officer of the Symbian Foundation and as vice president of strategy at Symbian Software.
Forsyth graduated from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1995.
Carl Alberty is executive vice president of Cirrus Logic’s Mixed-Signal Products group. Alberty oversees development of the company’s analog and mixed-signal products, such as smart codecs and boosted amplifiers used in a wide variety of mobile, consumer and automotive applications. Alberty joined Cirrus Logic in 1999 in an engineering role supporting audio products and progressed into various audio product marketing leadership roles, including vice president of marketing for audio products.
Alberty earned a bachelor’s degree in music engineering from the University of Miami, Florida.
Jeff Baumgartner, executive vice president of research and development, began his career at Cirrus Logic in 1998 as a design engineer and served in various engineering roles. In 2006, Baumgartner transitioned to engineering management, holding several R&D leadership positions, including key strategic management roles responsible for the rapid development of the company’s engineering teams. Before joining Cirrus Logic, he was an analog mixed-signal designer at Hughes Missile Systems Co. in Arizona.
Baumgartner graduated magna cum laude with a degree in electrical engineering from Tennessee Technological University in 1996.
Andy Brannan, executive vice president of worldwide sales, joined Cirrus Logic after the acquisition of Wolfson Microelectronics, where he was chief commercial officer for five years. Before joining Wolfson, Brannan served as a board member and executive vice president of sales and customer operations at Symbian Software Ltd. During his eight-year tenure at Symbian, Brannan led OS licensing, strategic partner management and a profitable Symbian Professional Services business. In the 10 years prior to joining Symbian, he held senior European management positions at Diamond Multimedia and Hewlett-Packard.
Brannan studied electronic engineering at Bristol Polytechnic, now the University of the West of England, having previously graduated as an engineering officer from the College of Maritime Studies in Southampton, England.
Justin Dougherty is executive vice president of global operations overseeing product and test engineering, validation, quality, silicon technology, assembly technology, and information technology for Cirrus Logic. Dougherty has more than 20 years of experience in product engineering, applications, and management in mixed-signal and RF semiconductors. He joined Cirrus Logic in 2013 after previously serving as director of applications and systems engineering at Javelin Semiconductor for five years. Prior to Javelin, he held various product engineering roles at Silicon Labs and Advanced Micro Devices.
Dougherty received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, where he graduated with honors.
Denise Grodé is the executive vice president and chief human resources officer overseeing the Cirrus Logic global human resources and marketing communications teams. Grodé, who joined the company in 2022, previously worked for Centene Corp., where she served as regional vice president, global talent management, employee experience and Centene University. While there, she was instrumental in leading an enterprise-wide human resources transformation, developing a top-tier culture and ensuring employee experiences aligned with the company's strategy. Prior to Centene, she served as vice president of global talent management and corporate human resources for Lennox International.
Grodé received an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas and a bachelor’s degree in international business administration from Missouri State University.
Scott Thomas joined Cirrus Logic as executive vice president and associate general counsel in 2001 and assumed the role of general counsel and corporate secretary in 2003. Thomas manages Cirrus Logic’s legal department and advises the company on a wide range of legal and business issues, including intellectual property matters.
In addition to two decades of legal experience, Thomas was an engineer for four years at Texas Instruments and AT&T Bell Laboratories. In the mid-to-late 1990s, he served as an intellectual property attorney at Arnold, White & Durkee, specializing in complex technology-related litigation for corporate clients such as 3M, Adtran, and Ericsson. In 2000, Thomas joined Thompson & Knight in Austin, Texas, where he helped establish the company’s new intellectual property section.
Thomas holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Rice University, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.
Jeff Woolard joined Cirrus Logic as the executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2025. He oversees the team responsible for the company’s overall financial management, including accounting, financial planning and analysis, corporate treasury, investor relations, facilities, and tax.
Previously, Woolard served as CFO at Velocity Global, where he was responsible for financial execution, strategic planning, and developing a financial growth strategy. Prior to that, he held the position of CFO at Solidigm and spent more than 25 years at Intel in various senior-level finance roles, including corporate vice president and CFO of Intel Manufacturing and Technology, as well as Intel Capital CFO for venture investing, M&A, and new business development.
Woolard earned an MBA from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Science in finance from Arizona State University.
