Rick Rudman is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vocus, Inc (Nasdaq:VOCS), a leading provider of cloud-based marketing and PR software. Rick has over twenty years of CEO and board level experience in the software industry and is one of the pioneers of what is now known as cloud computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS).

Under Rick's leadership, Vocus has grown from a start-up to one of the leading public SaaS companies, achieving 19 consecutive years of revenue growth, averaging 40% per year from 1992 to 2010. Today, Vocus is a global software company in with double-digit growth and operations in the US, Europe and Asia.

Rick has a track record of success as a start-up entrepreneur, public company CEO and board member. This broad-based experience, combined with a background in finance, programming and sales & marketing, gives him a broad based, multi dimensional and pragmatic vantage point on the modern software company.

Prior to Vocus Rick was a senior executive at Dataway Corporation, a privately held software company developing mission critical software applications for KPMG, Booz Allen, U.S. Navy and other large companies and government agencies. Before Dataway, Rick worked as a computer programmer for the Barlow Corporation, a privately held company specializing in a real estate development and retail businesses. Rick started work at Barlow Corporation as a staff accountant.

Rick began his career in the United States Air Force, enlisting after high school and rising to the rank of Sergeant during a four year tour of duty. He was stationed in the US and in Germany, as part of a forward Air Support Operations Center. He received advanced training in electronics and computers, and was awarded medals for good conduct, expert marksmanship, NATO service and humanitarian service.

Rick received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from University of Maryland, and became a Certified Public Accountant. In 2003 Rick was selected as Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in the software category for the Washington, D.C. region, and in 1999 Rick was named the High Tech Council of Maryland's Entrepreneur of the Year. He has served on the Board of Directors for a variety of software companies in the Washington D.C. region and currently services as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

You can follow Rick Rudman on Twitter here: @Vocuschairman.