Edward H. Ross has served as our chairman of the board and chief executive officer and as chairman of our Investment Advisor’s investment committee since our initial public offering in June 2011. Mr. Ross has more than 20 years of debt and equity capital investing experience with lower middle-market companies. Mr. Ross co-founded Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our Investment Advisor, in 2005. Mr. Ross was a managing director and the head of the Chicago office for Allied Capital Corporation, a publicly-traded business development company, where he focused on making debt and equity investments in middle-market companies from 2002 to 2005. Prior to joining Allied Capital Corporation, Mr. Ross co-founded Middle Market Capital, a merchant banking group of Wachovia Securities and its predecessor, First Union Securities, Inc., a retail brokerage and institutional capital markets and investment banking firm. Mr. Ross earned a bachelor of arts from Southern Methodist University and a master of business administration from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Chairman of the Board

Mr. Lauer serves as our President and director and as a member of our investment advisor’s investment committee. Mr. Lauer has more than 25 years of experience investing debt and equity capital in lower middle-market companies. Mr. Lauer was a managing partner of Fidus Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm, from 2008 to June 2011. Mr. Lauer was a managing director of Allied Capital Corporation, a publicly-traded business development company, from 2004 to 2008, where he was a member of the firm’s Management Committee from 2006 to 2008, Private Finance Investment Committee from 2005 to 2008, and Senior Debt Fund Investment Committee from 2007 to 2008. Prior to joining Allied Capital Corporation, Mr. Lauer worked with the Global Sponsor Finance Group of GE Capital, the financial services unit of General Electric, the Leveraged Capital Group at Wachovia Securities and its predecessor, First Union Securities, Inc., a retail brokerage and institutional capital markets and investment banking firm, and the Platform Components Division of Intel Corporation. Mr. Lauer earned a bachelor of business administration from the University of Notre Dame and master of business administration from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Raymond L. Anstiss, Jr. has served on our Board of Directors since September 2011 and is the chairman of our audit committee and a member of our nominating and corporate governance committee. Mr. Anstiss is the President of Anstiss & Co., an accounting, audit, tax and financial consulting firm headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts. Prior to joining Anstiss & Co. in 1993, Mr. Anstiss served on the audit staff of KPMG Peat Marwick from 1988 to 1992. Mr. Anstiss has served on the board of two not-for-profit companies in the past five years. Mr. Anstiss brings to our Board of Directors extensive experience in the accounting industry.

Independent Director

Kelly McNamara Corley has served on our Board of Directors since July 2022 and is a member of both the audit and the nominating and corporate governance committees.  Ms. Corley currently serves as Principal and Co-Founder of The Red Bee Group LLC, a women owned consulting group providing diversity equity and inclusion advice, public company board governance and strategic leadership advice to executive officers and chief legal officers.  Prior to co-founding The Red Bee Group, Ms. Corley was the Chief Legal Officer of Discover Financial Services for 19 years.  Prior to that, she served in a variety of legal and regulatory roles at Morgan Stanley.  Ms. Corley currently serves on the boards of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Rush University Medical Center, and Squeeze LLC.  Ms. Corley brings to the Board extensive board, legal and regulatory experience in the financial services industry.

Independent Director

Charles D. Hyman has served on our Board of Directors since our initial public offering in June 2011 and is the chairman of our nominating and corporate governance committee and a member of our audit committee. Mr. Hyman is the founder and chief executive officer of Charles D. Hyman & Co., a private, registered investment management firm located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Prior to forming Charles D. Hyman & Co. in 1994, Mr. Hyman served as a senior vice president of St. Johns Investment Management Company. Mr. Hyman has served on the board of directors for several not-for-profit companies in the past five years. Mr. Hyman brings to our Board of Directors extensive investment management experience.

Independent Director

Edward X. Tune has served on our Board of Directors since March 2019 and is a member of both the audit and the nominating and corporate governance committees. Mr. Tune is a Partner at Brown Advisory, an investment management firm with offices in North America and Europe. Prior to joining Brown Advisory, Mr. Tune was a Managing Director at Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) where for 14 years he served in a variety of client-facing and leadership roles in Charlotte and Chicago, including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for BBH’s wealth management unit. Prior to that, he served as a Vice President and investment advisor with Stein Roe & Farnham in Chicago for 8 years. Mr. Tune brings to the Company’s Board extensive investment management experience.

Independent Director