OREANDA-NEWS. November 05, 2015. Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced that A. Barry Rand has retired from its board of directors.

Rand, 70, was a founding director of Agilent, having served on the board of directors since the company's spinoff from Hewlett-Packard Co. in 2000.

Rand is a highly respected business leader, best known for serving as chief executive officer of AARP, the leading U.S. advocacy group for people over 50, from 2009 to 2014.

He was chairman of the board of Aspect Communications, and chairman and CEO of Ireland-based Equitant, Inc., negotiating its successful merger with IBM in 2005.

Rand is chairman emeritus of the Avis Group and was widely credited for transforming the former Avis Rent-a-Car into a leading technology and information provider in the vehicle services industry.

Before joining Avis, Rand spent 30 years at Xerox Corp., where under his leadership the company won two prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards.

As part of Agilent's board of directors, Rand served with distinction on its compensation committee, as well as its nominating and corporate governance committee. He also played an important role in supporting the company's major transformations from a diverse technology company to its present leading position in life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets.

"Having worked with Barry for more than a decade, I admire his innate ability to understand and support transformation within a large and complex global company, but I have come to appreciate even more his compassion and kindness that comes through in every decision," said Jim Cullen, Agilent chairman. "Barry has always known that it is always about the people."

"I am grateful to Barry for his countless valuable contributions and guidance to our board, and to me personally over the past 15 years," Cullen said.

With Rand's retirement, Agilent's board of directors includes 10 members.