California Micro Devices Corp. announces appointment of Jeffrey C. Kalb

Business Wire, Dec 12, 1994

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 1994--California Micro Devices Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMD) headquartered here, Monday announced the appointment of Jeffrey C. Kalb as its President and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Kalb is an accomplished organizational leader with more than 25 years of senior level management experience with emerging products and technologies in complex semiconductor and system environments. He rose to prominence in the mid 1980's with Digital Equipment Corporation for his work in bringing the VAX architecture to Mini Computers and Workstations. As the highest ranking operating officer responsible for design, development, business and strategic management of this initiative, Kalb came to be known as the "Father of the Micro VAX."

During this period Kalb was a founder, vice chairman and chairman of the board of the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation, which has raised and invested more than $50 million to educate and train engineers in semiconductor disciplines.

Kalb left DEC and moved to the Silicon Valley in 1987 to found and lead MasPar Computer Corporation, a privately-held manufacturer of massively parallel computers. The company shipped its first product in 22 months, and achieved a $25 million run rate within five years.

Kalb also spent ten years at National Semiconductor and four years at Data General in senior operating roles where he had manufacturing and engineering responsibilities in both bipolar and MOS technologies.

Kalb, who is 52 years old, said he was attracted to CMD by the quality of its technology and its relationships. He characterized the technology as "unique" and "significant", and also pointed towards the company's prestigious customer base, the reputation of its board members, and its strategic partnership with Hitachi Metals as important factors in his decision to accept the assignment.

Asked about his immediate agenda, Kalb said he plans to "Rationalize the cost structure, expand and upgrade the company's technical and marketing capabilities, and find new ways of leveraging the Company's IPEC technology in the marketplace."

According to Wade Meyercord, CMD's chairman, "We are fortunate to attract Jeff Kalb to lead CMD through this time of extraordinary challenge and opportunity. Jeff has achieved wide visibility in the industry as an operating officer who produces consistently superior results, a builder who attracts and retains highly talented men and women to his team, a corporate leader with genuine moral and civic commitments, and an exceptional human being with a well deserved reputation for impeccable ethical conduct."

The company announced on October 17 that its Board had formed a special committee of outside directors to investigate possible revenue recognition and other accounting irregularities. Meyercord said, "To ensure that Jeff Kalb can concentrate 100% of his efforts on managing the forward operations of the company, the Special Committee will continue to take responsibility for aggressively pursuing this investigation to a final conclusion."

California Micro Devices is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of integrated passive electronic components, which it calls IPECs. As the only silicon based high volume manufacturer in the passive component industry, CMD's thin film products are smaller, faster and can repress interference emissions from devices operating at much higher frequencies than its competitors.

CONTACT: California Micro Devices Corp.

             Wade Meyercord, 408/263-3214
             Equity Communications
             Ira Weingarten, 805/897-1880