HP today announced that its board of directors has named Mark Hurd to serve as the CEO and president. Patricia Dunn, HP's non-executive chairman, said that the HP board unanimously selected Hurd based on his track record leading a complex organization, as well as his strong executive and personal qualities.

Hurd, 48, has served since March 2003 as president and chief executive officer of NCR, where he has spent his 25-year career in a range of general management, operations and sales and marketing positions. Prior to his current responsibilities, he was NCR's president and chief operating officer, responsible for driving the performance of the company's five business units. Previously, Hurd served three years as president and chief operating officer of the company's Teradata division, which he built to be a global leader in enterprise data warehousing, analytic applications and data warehousing services.

"Our search for a new leader to return HP to sustained success has been focused and thorough," said Dunn. "A screening team of board members, consisting of myself, Jay Keyworth and Tom Perkins, established a broad field of candidates and interviewed many individuals. We then recommended the strongest contenders to the board as finalists. Each was interviewed by the entire board, and Mark was our top choice.

"Mark came to our attention because of his strong execution skills, his proven ability to lead top performing teams and his track record in driving shareholder value. He demonstrated these skills by turning around NCR, which, while smaller than HP, is a complex organization with multiple business segments. As we got to know Mark, we were impressed by his emphasis on developing internal talent while reaching outside for new skills, his understanding of the role of culture in a company's success and his personal integrity. Additionally, his straightforward style has won the respect of employees, customers and investors," continued Dunn.

Hurd said, "HP is one of the world's great companies, with a proud history of innovation, outstanding talent and enviable positions in many of its product lines and services. It's a great honor to join its leadership team and have the opportunity to build on its success."

Hurd will take up his new duties on April 1 and join HP's board. He succeeds Robert Wayman, a 36-year company veteran who has been chief financial officer since 1984 and was named interim chief executive officer in February 2005. Wayman, 59, will remain CFO and continue to serve as a member of HP's board.