Thaindian News

Bangalore, June 11 (IANS) Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd Saturday inducted four new directors to the board, including three from the company and a renowned American businesswoman.

Company’s chief financial officer V. Balakrishnan and senior vice-presidents B.G. Srinivas and Ashok Vemuri have been appointed executive directors of the re-constituted board, which will be headed by K.V. Kamath as executive chairman.

The US-based Ann Fudge will join the board as an independent director from October. She is a non-executive director at Unilever, Novartis AG and General Electric (GE) Co.

“The board of directors accepted the recommendations of the company’s nominations committee to appoint the three senior executives of the company and Fudge as additional directors,” the company said in a statement here.

The nominations committee, headed by independent director Jefferey S. Lehman, appointed Kamath, a former ICICI chairman, April 30 as the board’s new chairman in place of outgoing founder chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy, who relinquishes the executive post August 21 on superannuation at 65 years.

“I am happy that three outstanding Infoscions are joining the board. I have worked with all the three closely and have benefited immensely from their wisdom. I am confident they will take Infosys to even greater heights,” Murthy told reporters after the company’s 30th annual general meeting (AGM) in this tech hub.

The committee also appointed co-founder S. Gopalakrishnan as co-chairman of the board and promoted another co-founder S.D. Shibulal as chief executive from chief operating officer.

The 59-year-old Boston-based Fudge was chairperson and chief executive of Young & Rubican Brands from 2003 to 2006 and served on the Honeywell International board for a decade (1993-2003).

“Ann Fudge is a globally recognised and respected corporate leader. She will bring immense value to the board, particularly in strengthening our brand,” Murthy said.

Srinivas is also head of manufacturing and product engineering while Vemuri heads banking and capital markets and strategic global sourcing.

Welcoming the new directors onboard, Gopalakrishnan said the induction of three competent professionals from within the ranks was a big step forward for the company.

“Apart from infusing new energy to the board, these three appointments demonstrate the company’s commitment to recognise and reward outstanding leadership capability, hard work and performance,” Gopalakrishan said.