Cisco names Stanford president to board

Cisco Systems said Monday it named Stanford University President John L. Hennessy, 49, to its board of directors effective Jan. 28. The addition of Hennessy brings the number of Cisco board members to 12. Cisco's board includes a host of tech luminaries including Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, James Morgan, CEO of Applied Materials, and Carol Bartz, CEO of Autodesk.

Hennessy, who began his career at Stanford in 1977, was named the Willard and Inez Kerr Bell Endowed Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1987. Prior to becoming president in September 2000, Hennessy was dean of the Engineering School and provost--the university's chief academic and budget officer. During a 1984-85 sabbatical leave from Stanford, Hennessy co-founded MIPS Technologies, which makes chips based on the RISC architecture.