MCI's Capellas Named Cisco Director

Cisco Systems said Michael Capellas, former president and CEO of MCI, joined its board of directors as of Tuesday.

"With his customer-centric focus and unique balance of strategic insight, operational expertise, and technology and financial knowledge, Michael is a strong asset to Cisco's board," said John Morgridge, Cisco's board chairman, in a statement.

MCI was recently acquired by Verizon Communications, which is retiring most of the MCI brand and replacing much of it with its Verizon Business unit. MCI and Cisco have had a close relationship for several years with Cisco supplying a wide range of equipment and services to the telecommunications service provider.

Prior to his appointment to MCI in 2002, Capellas held high level executive position at Compaq Computer, which was later acquired by Hewlett-Packard.