Robert Frankenberg
Robert J. Frankenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 United States |
| Occupation(s) | Computer engineer, corporate executive |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Known for | Chairman, president, and CEO of Novell, Inc. (1994–1996) |
Robert J. Frankenberg (born 1947) is an American professional in computer engineering and corporate leadership, who held the positions of chairman, president, and CEO at Novell, Inc. between 1994 and 1996.
Life and career
Frankenberg commenced his professional journey at Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 1969. During his tenure there, he obtained a degree in computer engineering from San Jose State University in 1974 and completed the Stanford Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. By 1985, he had risen to the role of general manager of HP's Information Systems Group and was elevated to vice president in 1989. He played a pivotal role in revitalizing HP's personal computer division and was appointed group vice president of personal information products in 1991.
In 1994, Frankenberg took over as CEO of Novell, succeeding Raymond Noorda. His leadership concentrated on divesting various assets acquired during Noorda's period to sharpen Novell’s focus against competitors such as Microsoft. Among the divestitures were the sales of Wordperfect and Quattropro to Corel, as well as Unix Systems Laboratories to Santa Cruz Operation, resulting in substantial financial losses. Industry analysts observed that Novell missed critical opportunities in client–server computing and nascent Internet technologies throughout this era.
Following his time at Novell, Frankenberg assumed the roles of president and CEO at Encanto Networks, Inc. in 1997 and has acted as a management consultant with NetVentures starting from 1996. He has held board memberships at several companies including Nuance Communications, Inc., Daw Technologies, Inc., and Scansoft, Inc.. His directorships also encompass Electroglas, Inc. (since 1993), Caere Corporation (since 1996), Secure Computing Corporation (since 1996), National Semiconductor (since 1999), and Sqlstream (since 2011). Between 1999 and 2006, he served as board chair and interim CEO of Kinzan, Inc. In 2013, he joined the board of Polycom, a company specializing in broadband services.
Since 1997, Frankenberg has been a trustee at Westminster College, Salt Lake City.