As part of a company-wide transition, AMD announced on Wednesday night that effective immediately, Dr. Lisa Su will serve as the company’s president and chief executive officer and will serve on the Board of Directors. Dr. Su is the company’s very first female CEO.
Rory Read, the former president, CEO and Board member, will now serve as an adviser during the transition until the end of 2014.
"I am grateful to have had the opportunity to lead such a talented team and proud of what we have accomplished during such an important chapter in the company's history,” Read said. “Together, we have established the right strategy to enable AMD to continue to grow and transform. I am confident that Lisa is the right leader to drive AMD forward."
Dr. Su received her doctorate in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After that, she worked at Texas Instruments in the Semiconductor Process and Device Center, and then moved on to IBM, where she served for 13 years. There she held many leadership positions, such as vice president of the Semiconductor Research and Development Center.
Dr. Su joined Freescale Semiconductor in 2007 and moved up in rank until she became the company’s Chief Technology Officer. She didn’t join AMD until 2012, when she became senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Global Business Units.
According to AMD, Dr. Su was recently responsible for integrating AMD’s business units, global operations, sales and infrastructure enablement teams into “a single market-facing organization.” This organization is responsible for sales, operations, product execution and product strategy, the company’s press release explained.
“I am deeply honored to have this opportunity to lead AMD during this important time of transformation,” Dr. Su said. “Our world-class technology assets combined with the incredible talent and passion of the AMD team provide us with a unique opportunity to shape the future of computing. I look forward to expanding on the strong foundation we have built under Rory's leadership as we develop industry-leading technologies and products for a diverse set of markets to drive sustainable and profitable growth."
AMD’s press release said that the company has made “significant progress” in its operational and financial performance and that it has returned to non-GAAP profitability. Bruce Claflin, chairman of AMD's board of directors, said Rory and the board felt that now was the right time to make Dr. Su the head of the company.
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