Apple Board Adds Ex-Boeing Official to Boost Industrial Chops

Bell is an experienced director.

Apple Inc.’s board is elevating its industrial chops by adding former Boeing Co. executive James Bell.

As revealed in a press release published by Apple minutes ago, James A. James has joined the Apple board of directors.

“I am an avid user of Apple products and have a tremendous respect for the company’s ability to innovate”, Bell said in a statement. During his 38-year career at Boeing, he also oversaw Boeing Capital Corporation and Boeing Shared Services, and was interim CEO of The Boeing Company in 2005. Bell becomes the eighth member of Apple’s board of directors, joining CEO Tim Cook, board chairman and former Genentech executive Art Levinson, Al Gore, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger, Grameen president and CEO Andrea Jung, former Northrop Grumman chairman and CEO Ron Sugar, and BlackRock co-founder Sue Wagner.

Apple said in August that it’s making progress in hiring women and underrepresented minorities, recruiting more diverse candidates in the past 12 months than in any previous year, but overall there was little change in the demographics of the company. Bell attended California State University, Los Angeles where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

Mr. Bell, who had served as Boeing’s finance chief since 2003, stepped down after the Chicago-based company reached several key milestones, including delivering its first 787 Dreamliner jet, which had been delayed for several years by production and design problems. Still, he should be a valuable asset for the company.