Dwight Decker, a local tech executive whose name was once synonymous with Newport Beach’s Conexant Systems Inc., is giving up his board seat at the chipmaker.
Decker is set to retire from the company’s board, Conexant said on Tuesday.
The move marks a big break for Decker, 60, who’s had a hand in Conexant’s fate since he led the chipmaker as a unit of Rockwell International Corp. in the 1990s.
He headed the company’s spinoff from Rockwell as Conexant in 1999 and ran it as chief executive and chairman for five years.
Decker tried to step back in 2004 but returned in 2005 after a botched combination with New Jersey’s Globespan Virata Inc.
After a rough executive transition that saw one chief executive come and go within a year, Decker handed over the top spot to Scott Mercer, a longtime board member, in 2008.
In 2008, Decker resigned as the company’s non-executive chairman and has served as a director since then.
“Retiring from the Conexant board concludes a chapter in my life that began when I joined Rockwell more than two decades ago,” Decker said. “With the company’s capital-structure issues now resolved and a solid foundation in place for future success, the time is right for me to step away.”
Decker serves on the boards of El Segundo-based chipmaker International Rectifier Corp., Newport Beach’s Mindspeed Technologies Inc., and Pacific Mutual Holding Co., the parent of Newport Beach’s Pacific Life Insurance.
Decker is involved with the University of California, Irvine, where he helped establish the UCI Center for Pervasive Communications.
He is also past chairman of the trade group Global Semiconductor Alliance and a former board member of the Semiconductor Industry Association, which tracks the chip industry.
Decker is also and a founder of Aliso Viejo’s Octane, a booster group for technology and biotech startups in Orange County.
He’s also active in politics with New Majority, a moderate Republican group.
