Burns, most recently chief executive officer of VEON a role she left in March this year and chair until 1 June this year. She serves as a member of the board of directors at Exxon Mobil, Uber and Nestlé.
“We are delighted to welcome Ursula to the IHS Board. We look forward to the wealth of expertise, experience and insight that she will bring to HIS,” said Sam Darwish, chairman and group chief executive officer at HIS.
“Her advice and counsel will prove invaluable as we seek to pursue our strategic goals and firmly establish our position as one of the largest independent telecommunications infrastructure owners in the world. The Board and I would like to extend our warmest welcome to Ursula.”
Adding to her numerous roles, Burns also serves as senior advisor to Teneo and provides leadership counsel to several community, educational and non-profit organisations, including the Ford Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation, the New York City Ballet and the Mayo Clinic among others.
“In what is a transformative period for the telecommunications industry, as we witness an unprecedented acceleration in the digitisation of economies, I am excited to be joining IHS's board,” said Burns.
“I am looking forward to working with Sam, the board and the management team as the organisation seeks to expand its global footprint, bring increased connectivity to emerging markets, support mobile network operators with creative and robust infrastructure solutions, and help deliver the transition to new technologies.”
If that weren’t enough, Burns has also served as chair of the president’s Export Council from 2015 to 2016 after holding the position of vice chair from 2010 to 2015. Has longest role to date, however, has been her career with Xerox, spanning over 35 years.
Burns joined the organisation as a mechanical engineer before moving into management, taking on a number of strategic roles across the company before serving as Xerox CEO from 2009 to 2016 and as chair from 2010 to 2017.
