Howard Charney

Senior Vice President, Office of the President
Cisco

Senior Vice President Howard Charney is a member of Cisco’s Office of the President and Executive Staff and reports directly to CEO John Chambers. He contributes to Cisco’s strategy and direction and advises customers on implementing critical Internet technologies to improve productivity and competitiveness. He is the company’s Executive Sponsor for the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

During more than 30 years in Silicon Valley, Charney has overseen the development and proliferation of key technologies that led directly to the global build-out of the Internet. After joining Cisco with the acquisition of Grand Junction Networks, he helped grow Cisco’s new two-tier distribution business to more than US$2.4 billion and, with Cisco’s brand and market momentum, helped turn Fast Ethernet and low-cost switching into fundamental, global Internet technologies.

Previously, Charney founded Grand Junction Networks in 1992. Grand Junction invented Fast Ethernet and low-cost switching, which transformed the economics of switching. In 1980 Charney cofounded 3Com, the progenitor of Ethernet and local area networking. 3Com’s breakthrough technologies enabled Internet access to the desktop.

A licensed patent attorney, Charney belongs to the State Bar of California and the Federal Bar. He sits on the boards of several technology companies and on the advisory board for the Center for Science, Technology and Society at Santa Clara University. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and master’s of business administration and juris doctor degrees from Santa Clara University.