Apple is announcing a new board member today—Dr. Ronald Sugar, the former chairman of the board and CEO of the Northrop Grumman, a U.S. defense company. According to a release Dr. Sugar will serve as the Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee.
Dr. Sugar was Chairman and CEO at Northrop Grumman from 2003 until his retirement in 2010. Prior to working for the defense company, he held positions at Litton Industries and TRW Inc., where he served as chief financial officer.
CEO Steve Jobs said this about Dr. Sugar:
“Ron is an engineer at heart, who then became a very successful business leader. We are very excited to welcome him to Apple’s Board…In addition to having been the CEO of a high-tech Fortune 100 company, Ron has a Ph.D. in engineering and has been involved in the development of some very sophisticated technology.”
On Apple’s board, Sugar joins former U.S. Vice President Albert Gore; JCrew CEO Millard Drexler; former CEO of Intuit, Bill Campbell; Avon Chairman and CEO Andrea Jung; Genentech Chairman Arthur D. Levinson, and Steve Jobs himself.
Board member Jerry York, CEO of Harwinton Capital, passed away earlier this year, so it’s assumed that Sugar will be filling this spot. And Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple’s board last August.