Investing.com -- Microsoft Corporation (O:MSFT) nominated two women to join its Board of Directors on Monday with the nominations of Johnson & Johnson (N:JNJ) group worldwide chairman Sandra Peterson and Cisco executive Padmasree Warrior.
In addition, Microsoft announced that Dr. Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, has decided not to seek re-election and will leave the board following the annual shareholders meeting in December.
“In my six years serving on Microsoft’s board, I am proud of the role I’ve played to help shape Microsoft’s business, its leadership and impactful programs,” Klawe said in a statement. “Now is the right time for me to take a step back from my responsibilities on the board, so that I can take on a larger role in helping to ensure the future of the Claremont University Consortium endowment.”
Before coming to Johnson & Johnson, Peterson, 56, served as the chairman and chief executive officer of Bayer CropScience AG in Germany. At Bayer, she previously served as president and chief executive officer of Bayer Medical Care and president of Bayer HealthCare AG’s Diabetes Care Division. Peterson received a B.A. in Government from Cornell University and an M.P.A. in Applied Economics from Princeton.
Over the last four months, Warrior, 54, has served as a strategic advisor at Cisco, following eight years with the company as its Chief Technology Officer. Prior to that, Warrior spent nine years at Motorola (N:MSI) from 1999-2007, including the last five as the CTO at the telecommunications giant.
“Sandra and Padmasree both offer strong technology expertise and business experience that will serve as valuable additions to the board,” said John Thompson, the independent chairman of Microsoft's Board of Directors.
Shares in Microsoft inched up 0.03 or 0.06% to 47.65 in after-hours trading.