Dr. Willem (Wim) Roelandts

Born in Lennik, Belgium, he holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rijks Hogere Technische School in Anderlecht, Belgium in 1965. He began his career with Hewlett Packard in Belgium in 1967. He held several jobs for HP in Belgium and moved to Grenoble, France in 1975 and continued his career with HP. He moved to HP in the U.S. in 1983. Overall, he had a 30-year career at Hewlett-Packard where he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of ComputerSystems Organizations for Hewlett-Packard from August 1992 to January 1996 and its Vice President and General Manager of the Network Systems Group from December 1990 to August 1992. He was responsible for all aspects of Hewlett-Packard's worldwide computer systems business, including research and Development, Manufacturing, Marketing, Professional Services and Sales. He has deep experience building innovative, lasting technology companies with a global business focus. After leaving HP, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Xilinx Inc. from January 1996 to January 2008 as well as its President from April 1996 to January 7, 2008. He also served as an Executive Chairman from August 7, 2003 to February 2009. In addition, since November 2007, he has served as the Chairman of Fabless Semiconductor Association and Luminate Software Corporation. He serves as Lead Independent Director of Applied Materials Inc., and has been its Director since March 26, 2004. He has been a Director of eSilicon Corporation since December 2011, CoWare, Inc., since 1998 and Aruba Networks, Inc., since November 2008. He serves as Director of Interuniversity MicroElectronics Center, Semiconductor Industry Association and the Technology Network. He served as a Director of Luminate Software Corporation. He retired completely from Xilinx Inc. in August 2009. He is active on several company and charity boards. He holds an honorary doctorate from Santa Clara University (2004) and from the Katolieke Universiteit Leuven (2009). He serves as Member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Science, Technology and Society at Santa Clara University where he and his wife formed a philanthropic partnership with the University?s Center for Science, Technology, and Society (CSTS) to support student and faculty innovations through the Willem P. Roelandts and Maria Constantino-Roelandts Grant Program in Science and Technology for Social Benefit. The grants are awarded to students and faculty researchers whose work emphasizes the use of science and technology to benefit underserved communities around the globe. Recent projects have included bamboo housing for Haiti, a motorized bike powered by clean compressed air, a portable solar/hydrogen fuel cell generator for off-grid electrification to meet basic needs, and a mobile application that helps piece workers in developing countries learn if they?re getting a fair price. He frequently acts as a Keynote Speaker at industry conferences and trade shows and as a guest on financial and business television programs broadcast internationally.