John Kispert Chairman, Spin Transfer Technologies

Spin Transfer Technologies, Inc. (STT) announced that John Kispert, former CEO of Spansion, has been elected as the company’s new COB of directors.

He replaces Jill Smith, CEO of Allied Minds, who will remain as a member of the board.

“John has a stellar global reputation built on a demonstrable track record of success in driving commercial tractions, licensing IP, and ultimately in creating and crystallizing value for shareholders,” said Smith. “The STT management team is fortunate to have access to John’s guidance, counsel and network at this critical juncture in the commercialization of its MRAM enabling technologies.”

Kispert has held a number of executive and board positions during his more than 20 years in the memory and semiconductor industries. He was CEO of Spansion, Inc., where he guided the company through a period of sales growth and margin expansion, including the acquisition of a division of Fujitsu Microelectronics, to its eventual sale to Cypress Semiconductor in March 2015. Before that, he spent 13 years at KLA-Tencor, including president, COO and CFO, and helped transform the semiconductor equipment company from $300 million to over $3 billon in annual revenues. Preceding his time at KLA-Tencor, he held several management positions at IBM.

He also served as an active board member at a series of technology companies through their acquisitions or IPOs. These include Gigamon, Inc., a provider of network traffic visibility solutions, TriNet, a cloud-based professional employer organization for SMBs and Barracuda Networks, a security and storage solutions provider.

“We would like to thank Jill for her guidance and leadership during her tenure as COB, and look forward to John’s expertise further strengthening our board,” said Tom Sparkman, CEO, STT. “Having worked with John back at Spansion, I know his depth of experience in growing innovative and profitable emerging technologies will be invaluable as we move to commercialize our STT-MRAM technology.”

“I am delighted to join the board of STT – where I see an exciting opportunity to drive commercialization and licensing of its key MRAM-enabling technologies,” said Kispert. “I look forward to applying my knowledge and network for the benefit of the company and its shareholders, and unlock the widespread adoption of this faster, lower-power, next-generation memory for consumers and enterprises.”