[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Microsoft has appointed Stephen J. Luczo, chairman, president and CEO of Seagate Technology to the company’s board of directors, bringing the board’s size to 11 members. Mr. Luczo, 55, has been a director of Seagate since 2000, and has served as president and CEO of Seagate since January 2009.

Mr. Luczo joined Seagate in 1993 as senior vice president of corporate development. In 1997, he was promoted to president and chief operating officer at Seagate Technology,  and was promoted to CEO in 1998. He was appointed chairman of the board in 2002. He resigned his position as CEO in 2004, but retained his position as chairman of the board. From 2006 to 2009, he was a private investor. He rejoined Seagate as president and CEO in January 2009.

Prior to joining Seagate, Mr. Luczo was senior managing director of the global technology group of Bear, Stearns & Co., an investment banking firm.

Mr. Luczo is is a member of the World Wildlife Fund Board of Directors and the All-Stars Helping Kids Advisory Board. He received an M.B.A. from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and a B.A. in economics and psychology from Stanford.

In addition to Mr. Luczo, Microsoft’s board of directors consists of Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman; Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO; Dina Dublon, former chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase; Raymond V. Gilmartin, former chairman, president and CEO of Merck & Co.; Reed Hastings, founder, chairman and CEO of Netflix; Dr. Maria M. Klawe, president, Harvey Mudd College; David F. Marquardt, general partner at August Capital; Charles H. Noski, vice chairman of Bank of America; Dr. Helmut G. W. Panke, former chairman of the board of management at BMW; and John W. Thompson, CEO of Virtual Instruments.

Microsoft also announced the following changes to board committees: John Thompson has joined the Compensation committee, replacing Reed Hastings. Stephen Luczo has joined the Audit committee.