Intel Chairman Barrett To Retire In MayIntel Chairman Barrett To Retire In May

Intel on Friday said chairman and former chief executive Craig Barrett, who in recent years has been the chipmaker's global ambassador, will retire in May after a 35-year career with the company.

Along with giving up his role as chairman, the Intel veteran plans to retire from the company's board, effectively ending all active management, Intel said. Board member Jane Shaw, who joined the board in 1993, has been chosen to replace Barrett as nonexecutive chairman. Shaw currently chairs the board's audit committee.

Commenting on his retirement, Barrett, who served as CEO from 1998 through 2005, said he was fortunate to have worked at Intel with industry legends Bob Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove, whose work helped Intel become the world's largest semiconductor company in 1992.

"I'm extremely proud to have helped achieve that accomplishment and to have the honor of working with tens of thousands of Intel employees who every day put their talents to use to make Intel one of the premier technology companies in the world," Barrett said in a statement. "I have every confidence that Intel will continue this leadership under the direction of [CEO] Paul Otellini and his management team."

Otellini thanked Barrett for his "tireless efforts on behalf of Intel."

"He has been my colleague, supervisor, mentor, and friend for these 35 years," Otellini said. "I wish him the very best as he moves on to the next chapter in his life."

Barrett, 69, joined Intel in 1974 as a technology development manager and was named VP 10 years later. Over the next 14 years, before taking the role of CEO, Barrett served as an executive VP and was named chief operating officer in 1993. In 1997, he became Intel's fourth president and was chosen as board chairman in 2005.

Barrett helped Intel become a world-class manufacturer by instituting a number of unique processes, including "copy exactly," according to The Wall Street Journal. The practice transferred perfected manufacturing methods from one plant to another without changes to prevent the introduction of flaws into the production line.

As chairman, Barrett has acted as Intel's ambassador through his work in the company's World Ahead Program, which works to bring information technology to poorer nations with emerging economies. Barrett is chair of the U.N. Global Alliance for Information and Communications Technology and Development.