George A. Keyworth, II

Dr. George Albert II Keyworth (G. A. Keyworth) (born 1939), U.S. physicist; presidential Science Advisor 1981-1985. He was a board member of Hewlett Packard who was asked to step down in light of the controversy surrounding disclosure of sensitive information to the media. [cite news | title = Dunn For? | publisher = Forbes | first = Parmy | last = Olsen | url = http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2006/09/07/hewlett-packard-dunn-cx_po_0907autofacescan01.html | date = 2006-09-07 | accessdate = 2006-09-08 ] He resigned on September 13, 2006.cite news | url = http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2006-09-12-hp-hurd-advantage_x.htm | title = New HP chief makes the best of a bad situation | publisher = USA Today | date = 2006-09-13 | accessdate = 2006-09-25 ]

Career

Keyworth in 2001 was quoted as saying that "the whole argument for SDI [President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative] ... was a pack of lies, unadulterated lies." [Shapin, Steven. 'Guests in the President's House.' London Review of Books (18 Oct. 2001)]

Keyworth has been chairman and senior fellow with The Progress & Freedom Foundation since 1995. [cite web | title = Advisory Committee | publisher = Progress & Freedom Foundation | work = The Digital Age Communications Act Project | accessdate = 2006-09-08 | url = http://www.pff.org/daca/advisorycomm.html#keyworth ] cite web | url = http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1248 | title = George A. (Jay) Keyworth II profile | work = RightWeb | date = 2003-11-20 | accessdate = 2006-09-25 ]

He was Science Advisor to the president and director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1981 to 1986. [cite web | title = Past Science Advisors | work = Office of Science and Technology Policy | url = http://www.ostp.gov/html/_pastadvisors.html | accessdate = 2006-09-08 ] He is also a director of General Atomics.

Hewlett Packard resignation

In early 2005, after news leaks about then-CEO Carly Fiorina's clashes with the board surfaced, Fiorina hired a law firm to find the source. In February 2005, Fiorina left the company and Patricia Dunn, non-executive chairwoman, continued the investigation. As part of a larger scandal, a subcontractor used pretexting to expose Keyworth as the source of a leak to Cnet, and he was outed at a May 18, 2006 board meeting. At the meeting, Dunn asked Keyworth to resign, he refused, and another board member (Tom Perkins) resigned over the way Keyworth was being treated.cite news | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/06/BUGA9KVQU91.DTL&feed=rss.business | title = HP pushing out veteran member of board | first = Benjamin | last = Pimentel | publisher = San Francisco Chronicle | date = 2006-09-06 | accessdate = 2006-09-25 ] HP revealed the story on September 6, 2006 and said that they were not seeking Keyworth's reelection to the board. Coinciding with Mark V. Hurd's promotion to chairman, Keyworth resigned on September 12.

Keyworth had been a director of HP since 1986 and, until his resignation, was the longest-serving director at the company.

See also

* Tom Perkins

References