SiliconBeat

For the first time since the company went public in 1990, Xilinx has an independent chairman of its board of directors, now that Philip Gianos has been elected to the position to replace former chief executive Willem Roelandts, who will remain on the board.

Roelandts (pictured) joined the San Jose chip maker in January 1996 as CEO and a member of its board after six years at Hewlett-Packard. He was named chairman in August 2003 following the retirement of former chairman and CEO Bernie Vonderschmitt, who was with the company since its incepetion in 1984.

Gianos, the new chairman, has served on Xilinx’s board since 1985 and chairs its compensation committee. However, he had not been serving as lead independent director, a position the company designates as a matter of policy for one of the independent directors on the board whenever the CEO or former CEO serves as chair. That role had been filled most recently by Analog Devices CEO Jerald Fishman.