REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 2, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Peter Neupert is rejoining the company as a corporate vice president to coordinate its global health strategy. Neupert returns to Microsoft as a proven leader in the health technology industry, serving most recently as chairman of Drugstore.com Inc.; he is recognized as an international leader in health information technology. Neupert will report directly to Craig Mundie, chief technical officer and senior vice president for Advanced Strategies and Policy, and will lead Microsoft’s efforts to partner with stakeholders in the health ecosystem to help people worldwide better deal with health issues.
“We are choosing to invest in health now for a variety of reasons,” Mundie said. “Advances in technology hold huge promise for changing people’s lives globally — both those who are sick and those who are well. Peter Neupert brings a mix of business leadership and expertise in the health field to guide Microsoft’s work in this area.”
“Health is a very complex environment, and I believe that technology can create the possibility of increasing access to health services and decreasing costs worldwide,” Neupert said. “My team at Microsoft will take a long-term view to working with the health ecosystem to address infrastructure issues of significant scale.”
Before rejoining Microsoft, Neupert served as president and chief executive officer of Drugstore.com from July 1998 to April 2001, and as chairman of the board of directors from July 1999 to September 2004. Neupert led Drugstore.com to become a top online retail store and information site for health, wellness, beauty and pharmacy products.
Neupert served on President Bush’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) from 2003 to 2005. On that committee, he co-chaired the Health Information Technology subcommittee and helped drive the report “Revolutionizing Health Care Through Information Technology,” published June 2004 by PITAC. In 2000, Neupert received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for his work at Drugstore.com.
Neupert served in various capacities at Microsoft from 1987 to 1998. He started at Microsoft as the director of operating systems responsible for OS/2, and in 1995 was responsible for MSNBC as vice president of News and Publishing for the interactive media group.
Neupert holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College. Neupert officially joined Microsoft in his new position on Aug. 29, 2005.
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