The Board oversees the management of Synopsys' business operations, and ensures the long-term interests of Synopsys' stockholders are served. Our Board members bring with them decades of experience in the software, semiconductor, manufacturing and distribution industries. To learn more about committees of the Board of Directors, visit the Board Committees area of this site.

Dr. Aart J. de Geus
Aart J. de Geus co-founded Synopsys and has served as Chairman of our Board of Directors since February 1998 and Chief Executive Officer since January 1994. Since the inception of Synopsys in December 1986, he has held a variety of positions, including President, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Senior Vice President of Marketing. Dr. de Geus has served as a director since 1986, and served as Chairman of our Board of Directors from 1986 to 1992 and again from 1998 until present. Dr. de Geus has also served on the board of directors of Applied Materials, Inc. since July 2007.

Alfred J. Castino
Alfred J. Castino has been a member of our Board of Directors since May 2007. Mr. Castino has been an independent business consultant since August 2008. From August 2002 to August 2008, Mr. Castino served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Autodesk, Inc., a provider of design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Mr. Castino has also held the Chief Financial Officer position at Virage, Inc. and PeopleSoft, Inc. Mr. Castino has served on the board of directors of Digital River, Inc. since July 2010.

Dr. Chi-Foon Chan
Chi-Foon Chan has served as our Chief Operating Officer since April 1997 and as our President and a member of our Board of Directors since February 1998. Dr. Chan joined Synopsys in May 1990 and has held various senior management positions, including Executive Vice President, Office of the President from September 1996 to February 1998 and Senior Vice President, Design Tools Group from February 1994 to April 1997. Dr. Chan has also held senior management and engineering positions at NEC Electronics and Intel Corporation.

Bruce R. Chizen
Bruce R. Chizen has been a member of our Board of Directors since April 2001. He is currently an independent consultant and has served as Senior Adviser to Permira Advisers LLP since July 2008. From November 2007 to November 2008, Mr. Chizen served as a strategic adviser to Adobe Systems Incorporated, a provider of design, publishing and imaging software for print, Internet and dynamic media production. From December 2000 to November 2007, he served as Adobe’s Chief Executive Officer and as its President from April 2000 to January 2005 and previously held various other positions at Adobe since 1994. Mr. Chizen has served on the board of directors of Oracle Corporation since July 2008 and served on the board of directors of Adobe from December 2000 to April 2008.

Deborah A. Coleman
Deborah A. Coleman has been a member of our Board of Directors since November 1995. Ms. Coleman is a General Partner of SmartForest Ventures, a venture capital firm, which she co-founded in June 2000. Ms. Coleman has held various senior executive-level positions throughout her career, including Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Merix Corporation, a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, and Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Operations of Apple, Inc. Ms. Coleman served on the board of directors of Applied Materials, Inc. from March 1996 to March 2009.

Dr. Chrysostomos L. "Max" Nikias
Dr. Chrysostomos L. "Max" Nikias has been a member of our Board of Directors since July 2011. Since August 2010, Dr. Nikias has served as President of the University of Southern California (USC). Dr. Nikias previously served as USC’s provost and chief academic officer from 2005 through 2010 and as dean of USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering from 2001 through 2005. From 1996 through 2001, he was the founding director of the NSF-funded Integrated Media Systems Center. Dr. Nikias has worked as a consultant for numerous corporations and the U.S. government, including the U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Nikias is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dr. John G. Schwarz
John G. Schwarz has been a member of our Board of Directors since May 2007. Since May 2010, Mr. Schwarz has served as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Visier Inc., a business analytics software firm. Mr. Schwarz previously served on the executive board of SAP AG from March 2008 to February 2010. From September 2005 through its acquisition by SAP in January 2008, Mr. Schwarz was the Chief Executive Officer of Business Objects S.A., a provider of business intelligence software and services, and he served as the Chief Executive Officer of SAP’s Business Objects unit through February 2010. Mr. Schwarz served on Business Objects’ board of directors from January 2006 until its acquisition. Mr. Schwarz has also served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Symantec Corporation, a provider of infrastructure security and storage management software and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Reciprocal Inc., a business-to-business e-commerce services company. Mr. Schwarz previously spent 25 years at IBM Corporation, where he was most recently General Manager of IBM’s Industry Solutions Unit. Mr. Schwarz has served as a director at Teradata Corporation since September 2010 and at SuccessFactors, Inc. from September 2010 to June 2011.

Roy Vallee
Roy Vallee has been a member of our Board of Directors since February 2003. Since July 2011, Mr. Vallee has served as Executive Chairman of the board of directors of Avnet, Inc., a global semiconductor/electronics products and IT distributor. From June 1998 to July 2011, Mr. Vallee served as Avnet’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors. Mr. Vallee also previously served as Avnet’s Vice Chairman, President, and Chief Operating Officer. Since February 2000, Mr. Vallee has served on the board of directors of Teradyne, Inc. Mr. Vallee also serves as a member of the Arizona Commerce Authority Executive Committee and the Advisory Council of the 12th District Federal Reserve.

Steven C. Walske
Steven C. Walske has been a member of our Board of Directors since December 1991. Mr. Walske has been Managing Director of Myriad Investments, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in investments in software companies, since June 2000. Mr. Walske served as Chief Business Strategist of Parametric Technology Corporation from June 2000 until June 2005. From 1986 through June 2000, Mr. Walske held several executive-level positions at Parametric Technology Corporation, including Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the board of directors. Mr. Walske served on the board of directors of BladeLogic, Inc. from November 2002 to April 2008, holding the Chairman position from 2005 to April 2008.