Nvidia has appointed Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chairman of the board, creating a first ever board chairman position at the US semiconductor giant following the resignation of founder Jensen Huang.
The company announced the appointment on Thursday, November 12, as part of a wider leadership transition that saw Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress named interim chief executive officer.
Jones brings more than 30 years of experience as a technology executive, entrepreneur and venture investor, having previously served as chief executive officer and executive chairman of Synopsys, a semiconductor design software company.
He has also been a member of Nvidia’s board since 1993, the year the company was founded, giving him more than three decades of experience with the chipmaker.
According to Nvidia, Jones co-founded Daisy Systems Corp., a computer-aided engineering company, in 1981 and served as its president and CEO until 1987.
He subsequently led Synopsys between 1987 and 1998, serving as CEO for seven years before becoming executive chairman.
His experience at the semiconductor design software company gave him extensive exposure to the technology industry before he became an active venture investor.
He has been managing partner of private investment firm Square Wave Ventures since 2004 and co-founded Tensilica, a semiconductor intellectual property company acquired by Cadence Design Systems in 2013.
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Commenting on the leadership transition, Jones expressed confidence in Kress’s ability to maintain the company’s operations and strategic direction.
“Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position,” he said.
He added that the board had “full confidence in Colette and the leadership team”, expecting the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.
Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer sciences from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His appointment introduces a formal board chairmanship at Nvidia as the company navigates the departure of Huang, who led the business for 33 years, and begins searching for a permanent chief executive.
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