Harvey Mudd College president appointed to Microsoft board

Microsoft named a college president and computer-science professor as its 10th board member Monday.

The board also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 13 cents a share, up from 11 cents in the same period a year ago.

Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, in Claremont, Calif., and a decorated computer scientist and mathematician, joined Chairman Bill Gates, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and seven others on Microsoft's board of directors. Gates and Ballmer praised her technical acumen.

Her appointment restores the board to 10 members after Jon Shirley, a former Microsoft president and director since 1984, stepped down in November.

Klawe previously was dean of engineering at Princeton and held several administrative positions at the University of British Columbia. In a statement, Gates said, "Her close connection to university students and the way they shape computing trends will bring an important perspective to the board."

Other stops in her career include IBM, where she was a researcher in California, and the University of Toronto.

Another major focus of Klawe's career has been encouraging women to pursue science careers. She was the first woman to join the board of the Computing Research Association, among other accomplishments.

She joins Dina Dublon, former JPMorgan Chase finance chief, as one of two women on the board.

Benjamin J. Romano: 206-464-2149 or bromano@seattletimes.com