IEC Presents Fellow Award to John Chambers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: June 12, 2002
Contact: Marilyn Grekowicz
Phone: +1-312-559-3656
Fax: +1-312-559-4111

CHICAGO—The International Engineering Consortium recently presented the IEC Fellow Award to John Chambers, president and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems, in a ceremony in Atlanta.

The IEC Fellow Award was established in 1994 to recognize individuals who have provided the information industry with a superior level of sustained and significant service. Areas of service considered for the award include education, technology, and industry leadership.

Mr. Chambers was cited for his leadership and abilities in promoting the transformation to a digital economy. Since assuming the top post in January 1995, Chambers has turned Cisco into one of the world's fastest-growing companies, pursuing innovation and promoting growth in myriad disparate technologies, from core infrastructure and optical transport to Internet voice and wireless networking.

Under Chambers, Cisco became both a key solution provider for the networked economy and one of its most important proponents by automating its own purchasing and supply processes via the Internet. The company served as the communications bellwether, regularly posting more than 50% annual sales growth.

Now that the communications industry has entered a period of retraction, Cisco continues to set an example: this time, of how to re-engineer a huge corporation for cost reduction and slower sales while still entering new markets with leading-edge products.

"John Chambers is a remarkable leader who has spearheaded the growth of digital communications, which has enabled the widespread use of the World-Wide Web," said Robert Janowiak, executive director of the International Engineering Consortium, when presenting the award. "He is also a leader in applying information technology to major advances in productivity."

Chambers joined Cisco in 1991 as Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Operations. He has served as a member of President George W. Bush's transition team and was a member of former President Bill Clinton's Committee for Trade Policy. Prior to joining Cisco, Chambers spent eight years at Wang Laboratories and six with IBM. Chambers holds a law degree and a B.A./B.S. degree in business from West Virginia University. He later received an M.B.A. in finance and management from Indiana University.

Past recipients of the IEC Fellow Award include such communications trailblazers as Gordon Moore, former CEO of Intel; David Packard, founder of Hewlett-Packard; Robert Galvin, former Motorola CEO; Vinton Cerf, senior vice president of MCI; and Jack S. Kilby, Nobel Laureate and a pioneer in the development of the integrated circuit.

More information in the IEC Fellow Award may be obtained by calling the International Engineering Consortium at 312-559-4100.

The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) is a cooperative public-service organization dedicated to positive change in the information industry and university communities. For more than 50 years, IEC has provided educational opportunities for industry professionals, university professors and promising students. Executives from throughout the industry continue to build strong business and technical foundations for the future through knowledge gained from IEC Forums and publications.