David C. Laurello, president and chief executive officer of Stratus Technologies, has been elected as chairman of the board of directors. Former chairman, Stephen C. Kiely, continues to serve the company as a member of the board.

"In the face of inconstant marketplace demands, Dave has been an insightful and resourceful leader, thoughtfully navigating a course by molding Stratus' core strengths into new services and products that provide exceptional customer value," said Kiely. "In a very short time by industry standards, Stratus has made great progress becoming a solutions-oriented company rather than simply a product vendor. Dave also shifted Stratus' investments away from commodity hardware to high-value software and virtualization technology. I have every confidence he will continue to lead Stratus in the future with the same vision and determination."

Laurello joined then-Stratus Computer, Inc. in 1995 as vice president of hardware engineering. In 1998 Stratus Computer was acquired for specific telecommunications assets and the remainder of the company was spun out as Stratus Technologies in a leveraged buy-out in early 1999. He remained with the acquirer until February 2000 when he joined Stratus Technologies as vice president of technology, products & operations. In that role, Laurello was largely responsible for the development and launch of the computer server line that today forms the company's product core and major source of product revenue.

Laurello was appointed president and COO in March 2001. He assembled an executive team with new leadership in engineering, marketing, sales, manufacturing and other disciplines, and he directed the re-creation of internal systems for the unfamiliar demands of volume manufacturing and sales of new industry-standard products. In June 2003, he became the company's chief executive officer.

Laurello is also a member of the board of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and the Massachusetts United Way of Tri-County. He earned a degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He resides in Westford, Massachusetts with his wife, Lauren.