Charles Simonyi Elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Institute for Advanced Study

Charles Simonyi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Intentional Software Corporation, will become Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Institute for Advanced Study, effective October 25, 2008. Dr. Simonyi succeeds Martin L. Leibowitz, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, who served as Chairman for one year after the retirement in October 2007 of James D. Wolfensohn, now Chairman Emeritus.

Dr. Simonyi's appointment as Chairman marks the completion of a Board leadership transition at the Institute. A Trustee of the Institute since 1997, Dr. Simonyi has served as President of the Corporation since 2003 and is Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. After earning a B.S. in engineering and mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley (1972), the Hungarian-born Dr. Simonyi earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University (1977). From 1972 until 1980, he worked at the renowned Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where he did most of the design and the critical implementation work on Bravo, the first WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor, and led the team that built it. Next at Microsoft, he worked on the development of microcomputer application programs and was responsible for hiring and managing teams who developed such well-known programs as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Multiplan and others. In 2002, Dr. Simonyi left Microsoft to start the Intentional Software Corporation, a software engineering company with an emphasis on productivity applications.

Of the new Board leadership, Institute Director Peter Goddard stated, "Charles has been an inspiring member of the Board and demonstrates a deep commitment to the Institute and its mission. He brings not only a strong understanding of the Institute and the way it works, but a profound appreciation of science and the humanities and also a lifetime of business experience, which will ensure exceptional leadership for this institution. We are deeply grateful to Marty for his guidance and direction, particularly in this past year, and are also delighted that he will continue to serve as Vice Chairman of the Board and President of the Corporation."

"It is with a profound sense of humility that I follow Marty in organizing the work of the Board of Trustees of this unique institution of higher learning," stated Dr. Simonyi. "We have a highly engaged Board of distinguished individuals who will continue to support and maintain the environment for world-class scholarship and research at the Institute. I know that the Board is dedicated to its mission just as the scholars at the Institute are dedicated to uncovering the mysteries in their fields, be that in mathematics, biology, astrophysics, social sciences, historical studies or high-energy physics."

As a leading member of the Board, Dr. Simonyi has provided foundational support to help sustain the Institute's standing as one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. In 2005, the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences awarded the Institute an unrestricted cash gift of $25 million, representing the largest donation since the founding of the Institute. The gift was named The Karoly Simonyi Memorial Endowment Fund, in honor of Dr. Simonyi's late father, an esteemed professor of electrical engineering. Dr. Simonyi provided for the endowment of the Charles Simonyi Professorship in Theoretical Physics, currently held by physicist Edward Witten of the Institute's School of Natural Sciences. He has further demonstrated his commitment to the Institute by providing substantial funding to the School of Mathematics. Simonyi Hall, which houses the School, was dedicated in May 2000 in recognition of Dr. Simonyi's participation in the life of the Institute community and his support of the work that takes place here.

A member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, Dr. Simonyi was recently named a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2001, he received an honorary doctorate from Hungary's University of Pécs. In April 2007, Dr. Simonyi fulfilled a lifelong dream and became the fifth civilian to travel into space when he completed an eight-day stay aboard the International Space Station. Dr. Simonyi will wed Lisa Persdotter of Sweden later this year.

Dr. Leibowitz, who has been a Trustee of the Institute since 1995, will continue his role as Vice Chairman of the Board and will become President of the Corporation effective October 25, 2008. He currently serves on the Finance Committee and the Endowment Campaign Task Force, and he was Chairman of the search committee for Director Goddard. Over the years, he has actively supported the Institute's Schools of Mathematics and Historical Studies and systems biology in the School of Natural Sciences.

About the Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study is one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The Institute exists to encourage and support curiosity-driven research in the sciences and humanities—the original, often speculative thinking that produces advances in knowledge that change the way we understand the world. Work at the Institute takes place in four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Science. It provides for the mentoring of scholars by a permanent Faculty of approximately 30, and it ensures the freedom to undertake research that will make significant contributions in any of the broad range of fields in the sciences and humanities studied at the Institute.

The Institute, founded in 1930, is a private, independent academic institution located in Princeton, New Jersey. Its more than 6,000 former Members hold positions of intellectual and scientific leadership throughout the academic world. Thirty-three Nobel Laureates and 40 out of 56 Fields Medalists, as well as many winners of the Wolf and MacArthur prizes, have been affiliated with the Institute.