One of Silicon Valley’s most visible Rattlers is retiring.
On Monday, Symantec – a global leader in software security and management – announced that Chairman and CEO John W. Thompson will end his long, successful tenure at the conclusion of this fiscal year.
The board of directors has appointed Enrique T. Salem, Symantec’s chief operating officer, as president and chief executive officer effective April 4, 2009. Following the transition, Thompson will stay on as board chairman.
“I am proud of our team’s accomplishments over the past 10 years as we’ve transformed the company from a consumer software publisher to the leader in Internet security, data protection and storage management,” Thompson said.
Thompson earned his bachelor’s of business administration from FAMU in 1971. Since graduating, he has continued to support his alma mater by serving as a member of the FAMU Foundation and bringing his company into FAMU's Industry Cluster.
The timing of Thompson’s announcement has fueled speculation that he might have a future on Capitol Hill. The Symantec CEO was an early and very spirited backer of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. During the campaign, he hosted fundraising events for Obama at his California home.
Some believe that Thompson could become Obama’s “chief technology officer” or serve in another prominent advisory post.
Maybe he could (in some way) help our struggling IT area on campus. They are still trying to get the current system on campus to work correctly.
ReplyDeleteOnly way that can be helped is when they get a CIO that know what he doing and not making decisions that only server his self interest
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good opportunity to be impacted by the good Rattler Alumni.
ReplyDelete