Infosys independent director Ann M Fudge not to seek re-appointment after her term expires on June 14

BANGALORE: Ann M Fudge, an independent director on the board of Infosys will not be seeking re-appointment after her term expires on June 14 this year, Infosys in a statement issued to the BSE said.

Fudge’s decision comes at a time when Infosys, India’s second-largest technology outsourcer, is undergoing the biggest internal restructuring in its recent history after founder NR Narayana Murthy returned to the company as chairman in June last year. Since Murthy’s return, Infosys has lost eleven senior executives, including board members Ashok Vemuri, V Balakrishnan and global sales head Basab Pradhan.

"Infosys today announced that Ann Fudge, Independent Director who is scheduled to complete her term on the Infosys Board on June 14, 2014, has conveyed her intention not to seek re-appointment owing to her busy schedule," the company said in a statement.

Infosys had recently reorganised its nominations and governance committee. Along with independent director Jeffrey Lehman and Ravi Venkatesan, Fudge was part of the company’s nominations committee that was tasked with recommending candidates for the post of chief executive officer as current CEO SD Shibulal term ends next year.

Infosys recently reconstituted the nominations committee with KV Kamath, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and R Seshasayee.

Fudge, 62, has an MBA from Harvard and was chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam Brands, a global network of marketing and public relations agencies. Between 2003 and 2006, she was the top-paid African-American woman in the advertising business.

Fudge also serves on a number of other corporate boards, including industrial and finance giant General Electric, pharmaceutical company Novartis International and retail behemoth Unilever.

Deepak M. Satwalekar, another independent director, had retired from Infosys board of directors in November last year. Currently, the Infosys Board has seven independent directors and six executive directors. Infosys recently appointed Carol M. Browne as an additional director.