Eric Benhamou’s professional and personal accomplishments center on the creation and intelligent deployment of information technology towards improving the performance of businesses and non-profits and the quality of life of individuals around the world.
Benhamou is chairman and CEO of Benhamou Global Ventures, LLC. Benhamou Global Ventures, started in 2003, invests and plays an active role in innovative high tech firms throughout the world. He is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD. He is also a visiting professor at Ben Gurion University. He served as Chairman of the board of directors of Palm, Inc. from 1999 until 2007 and CEO of Palm, Inc. from 2001 until 2003. He served as CEO of 3Com Corporation from 1990 until 2000. He also served as Chairman of the board of directors of 3Com Corporation until its sale to Hewlett-Packard in April 2010.
In 1981, Benhamou co-founded Bridge Communications, an early networking pioneer, and was Vice President of Engineering until its merger with 3Com in 1987. Before joining Bridge Communications, he worked four years at Zilog, Inc., serving as Project Manager, Software Engineering Manager and Design Engineer.
In 2003, Benhamou was appointed to the Joint High Level Advisory Panel of the US–Israel Science and Technology Commission by US Commerce Secretary Donald Evans. In 1997, former President Bill Clinton appointed Benhamou to the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee, which advises the President on research and development focal points of federal programs to maintain United States leadership in advanced computing and communications technologies and their applications.
In 2010, Benhamou was awarded the National Leadership Award in Business of the Merage Foundation for the American Dream. In 2007, he was awarded the David Packard Civic Entrepreneur Award presented by Joint Venture Silicon Valley. The Packard Award is presented annually to a person who brings an entrepreneurial, cross-boundaries, problem solving approach to Silicon Valley’s challenges. Benhamou was inducted in the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 2006. In 1998, Benhamou was recognized by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the Foreign Investor Jubilee Award. That same year, Benhamou received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which pays homage to the immigrant experience, as well as individual achievement to US citizens from various ethnic backgrounds. In 1998, he became a Fellow of the International Engineering Consortium. He is a graduate of the American Leadership Forum, which seeks to revitalize leadership within communities across the nation. In 1997, Benhamou received the Medaille Nessim Habif from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Paris. In 1992, he received the President’s Environment and Conservation Challenge Award, the United States’ highest environmental award.
Benhamou currently serves as Chairman of the board of Cypress Semiconductor, and as a member of the board of directors of Voltaire, RealNetworks, Inc. and of Silicon Valley Bancshares. He serves on the board of directors of the privately held companies Finjan, ConteXtream, and Purewave. Benhamou serves on the executive committee of TechNet. He also serves as Chair of American Friends of Arts et Métiers (AFAM). In addition, he serves on the boards of the Stanford University School of Engineering and Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He is the chairman of the Israel Venture Network, a venture philanthropy organization for a stronger Israeli society.
Benhamou holds honorary doctoral degrees from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Widener University, Western Governors University, and the University of South Carolina. He has a Master of Science degree from Stanford University’s School of Engineering and a Diplôme d’Ingénieur from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Paris.
Benhamou has been a Member of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age since its inception in 2002.
