Meg Whitman appointed as HP's chairman

 

This appointment comes two days after Ralph Whitworth, Interim Chairman, HP, unveiled plans to retire for health reasons.

Whitman's rise to the chairmanship of HP comes less than three years since she took over as president and CEO of the company.

She has been credited with steering HP clear of several major issues left by her predecessors, including the decision to spend $10.3 billion on software maker Autonomy and the near disaster caused by plans, later canceled, to spin HP's PC division into a separate company. Both took place in the months preceding her hiring by HP.

Whitman has done a phenomenal job since she took over HP, said Kent MacDonald, Vice President, Converged Infrastructure and Network Services, Long View Systems, a Calgary, Alberta-based solution provider and HP channel partner.

 

MacDonald said Whitman has proven her ability to work together with solution providers to build HP and its business.

In addition to naming Whitman chairman, HP's board of directors saw several other additions, including the appointment of current Director Pat Russo as lead independent director and the appointment of Alcoa CEO and Chairman Klaus Kleinfeld to the board.