General Mills VP/CFO Joins Apple's Board Of Directors

by , 10:00 AM EST, January 7th, 2004

Among all of the hubbub on the day before MacWorld San Francisco 2004, we seem to have missed the new addition to Apple's Board of Directors. On Monday, Apple announced that James A. Lawrence, executive vice president and chief financial officer of General Mills, became the newest member of Apple's Board of Directors. Lawrence, a Mac user himself, has been the executive VP and CFO of General Mills since 1998. From Apple:

Apple today announced that James A. (Jim) Lawrence, executive vice president and CFO of General Mills, Inc., has joined the Company's Board of Directors.

"With his deep financial and international experience, Jim is going to be a great addition to our Board of Directors," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Jim is the seventh member on our Board, and we're all looking forward to working with him."

"Apple is clearly the most innovative company in its industry," said Jim Lawrence. "My family and I have been Mac users for many years, so I am really looking forward to working directly with such a talented group of people."

James A. Lawrence has been executive vice president and CFO of General Mills since 1998. Previously, Mr. Lawrence was executive vice president and CFO of Northwest Airlines. Prior to joining Northwest Airlines, he was at Pepsi-Cola International, serving initially as executive vice president and subsequently as president and CEO for its operations in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Mr. Lawrence currently also serves on the board of directors of Avnet, Inc. and The St. Paul Companies. His previous board affiliations include American Reinsurance Inc., Continental Airlines and Intuitive Surgical.

Mr. Lawrence received his B.A. in Economics from Yale University in 1974 and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1976.

You can read the press release at Apple's site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

It's important for Apple to broaden its board, and to increase the appearance that the board has independence from Steve Jobs. In other words, if you are wondering what in the heck General Mills has to do with technology, it doesn't. Mr. Lawrence is bringing other qualities to Apple, including that appearance of independence.

Apple