Nortel ex-CEO to join Wipro board

Wipro has appointed William Arthur (Bill) Owens, as an additional director of the company with effect from July 1, 2006. Mr Owens was chairman & CEO of Nortel Networks till recently.

According to an official statement by Wipro today, Mr Owens - currently a board member of Polycom; Daimler Chrysler; Sprint Wireline; and AEA Investors -  was CEO and vice chairman of the board of Nortel Networks from April 2004 to November 2005.

Mr. Owens is an MBA (Hon.) from George Washington University. In addition, he has a B.S. in Mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy and an  M.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University.

Mr Owens has also served as an admiral in the US Navy and vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (the second highest rank in the US armed forces) and played a key role in the post-Cold War restructuring of the US armed forces