Sue Desmond-Hellman is currently the Chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco and also services on the board of directors at Proctor & Gamble.
"Sue has a great track record of building and managing a diverse set of organizations, so her insights will be valuable as we continue to expand into new areas," said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. "Her experience shaping public policy and operating public companies fits well with the rest of the board and will make us an even stronger company."
Desmon-Hellman currently oversee’s UCSF’s university and medical centre strategy and operation. She has also served as president of Genentech and during her time there brought several cutting-edge cancer medicines to market.
She also spent two years as a visiting faculty member at the Uganda Cancer Institute studying HIV/Aids and cancer.
"I’ve always been drawn to organizations that do ground-breaking work," said Desmond-Hellmann. "Facebook has an ambitious mission and long-term vision of innovation that is transforming how people connect with one another. I’m proud to be part of a company that is serving such an important purpose in the world."
In June 2012 Facebook appointed Sheryl Sandberg to its board of directors, making her the first female to serve on Facebook’s board.
Sandberg’s appointment came after a women’s rights group launched a petition asking Facebook to put women on its board.
The rights group, Ultraviolet, asked the help of its 300,000 members in signing a petition.
"The fact that a company as large as Facebook with a massive global reach does not have a single women on their board is nothing short of shameful," said Ultraviolet in a statement. "Facebook owes its success and makes a ton of money off of its women users."
