Bell Communications Research or Bellcore, the jointly-owned research arm of the US seven Regional Bell Operating Companies, said Dr George Heilmeier will retire as chairman and chief executive when the sale of the company to Science Application’s International Corp (CI No 3,049), closes at the end of the year. Dr Heilmeier, who was brought in to the top job at Bellcore from Texas Instruments Inc in 1991, will become chairman Emeritus of Bellcore, and will continue to consult for Bellcore and Science Applications, the company said. He is renowned for his pioneering work in the development of LCD liquid crystal displays and is currently on the board of a number of technology companies, including Compaq Computer Corp, TRW Inc, Perot Systems Corp and Automatic Data Processing Inc. Heilmeier is said to have led Bellcore from being the US largest research consortium to becoming a profitable, commercial venture. He cites wanting to spend more time with his family, and pursuing a wide range of science and technology interests as his reasons for leaving at the end of the year. The sale of Bellcore has been mooted for more than three years now. Science Applications name has been in the frame for much of that time, and it was confirmed as the buyer last year, with reports suggesting it would pay about $700m (CI No 3,049). Bellcore, based in Morristown, New Jersey, provides communications software engineering and consulting services to telecommunications, carriers, large businesses and government departments.
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