Dr. Eric
Schmidt Appointed Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of
Novell, Inc.
The Internet Pioneer and Chief Technology Officer of Sun Microsystems
describes the move as, "The opportunity of a lifetime."
PROVO, Utah -- March 18, 1997 -- Novell, Inc., and Sun Microsystems, Inc,
today announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt will join Novell on April 7, 1997
as chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
Widely recognized as an Internet pioneer and instrumental in the widespread
acceptance of Java? technology (the platform-independent programming language
that Sun developed), Dr. Schmidt brings to Novell 20 years of leadership
in software and systems research, marketing and business management.
"We are grateful for the many contributions Eric has made to Sun's
success," said Scott McNealy, chairman, president and chief executive
officer, Sun Microsystems. "He is an awesome technologist, committed
to advancing network computing. We wish him every success in his new position."
Novell Chairman, John Young will become vice chairman of the company with
this announcement. He commented, "Clearly, having an executive of
Eric Schmidt's stature and business experience as the Novell CEO will contribute
significantly to the next chapter of growth for the company. More importantly,
as a recognized leader in the move to network computing, Eric shares Novell's
view - and the view of thousands of enterprises - that the future of networks
relies on the value of open standards and software that enable people to
securely share information and conduct business on the Internet."
"When the opportunity came up to lead one of the most exciting companies
in the networking space, my immediate reaction was 'This is an opportunity
of a lifetime,'" said Dr. Schmidt. "Of course, I will miss deeply
all of the wonderful people at Sun from whom I have learned a great deal,
and to whom I owe a great debt.
"Over the last few years I've watched hundreds of enterprises make
the move to network-based information systems. The pace of this change
has accelerated considerably over the last few months for Novell's customers
since Joe Marengi took over as President and COO. Novell offers these enterprises
- and thousands of others - a powerful way to prosper in a world defined
by open standards-based software and the Internet."
Dr. Schmidt joined Sun Microsystems in 1983 as manager of software and
has held numerous positions in his nearly 14 years of service, including:
director of software engineering, vice president and general manager of
the software products division, vice president of the general systems group,
and president of Sun Technology Enterprises.
Prior to joining Sun, Dr. Schmidt was a member of the research staff at
the Computer Science Lab at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and
held positions at Bell Laboratories and Zilog. Dr. Schmidt has a BS in
electrical engineering from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Computer
Science from the University of California at Berkeley.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The
Computer?" has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ"SUNW"),
to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services
for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the
Internet. With more than $7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found
in more than 150 countries and on the worldwide web at http://www.sun.com.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, and The Network Is The Computer
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the
United States and other countries.
Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading provider
of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions
for distributed network, Internet, intranet and small-business markets.
Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive
in the network computing industry. Information about Novell's complete
range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at
Ahead of his formal start
date, Dr. Schmidt will attend the March 24th opening day of BrainShare
'97, Novell's premier technical conference. He will address customers,
channel, vendor partners, and press.
For Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Raymnd G. Nasr
(415) 786-4395
or
Jennifer Graham
(415) 786-9728
Novell Executive Biography
Dr. Eric Schmidt joins Novell, Inc. on March 18, 1997, as chairman of the
board of directors and chief executive officer. Dr. Schmidt comes to Novell
from Sun Microsystems, Inc., where he was chief technology officer and
corporate executive officer. Dr. Schmidt held a range of progressively
more responsible executive positions at Sun, where he earned international
recognition as an Internet pioneer. He was also instrumental in the widespread
acceptance of Java, Sun's platform-independent programming language.
In addition, Dr. Schmidt was responsible for coordinating all aspects of
Sun's core
technologies, such as SPARC? microprocessors and the Solaris? operating
environment. He
also managed Sun's Research and Development laboratories and a number of
new software
and networking businesses. Dr. Schmidt joined Sun in 1983 as manager of
software and
moved to director of software engineering before his appointment as vice
president and
general manager of the Software Products Division in May 1985. He was promoted
to vice
president of the General Systems Group in May 1988, president of Sun Technology
Enterprises (STE) in February 1991 and became chief technology officer
in February 1994.
Prior to joining Sun, Dr. Schmidt was a member of the research staff at
the Computer
Science Lab at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where he developed
release
tools for the Cedar programming environment project. He also held positions
at Bell
Laboratories and Zilog. Dr. Schmidt has a B.S. in electrical engineering
from Princeton
University, and an M.S. in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in computer
science from the
University of California, Berkeley.
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