The magic number is 70 for the board of directors at Cisco Systems, Inc.

The Internet networking giant announced Friday that its board of directors decided that beyond the age of 70, no person would be eligible to be nominated or re-nominated for election to the board.

And what does this mean for the chairman of the board, 71-year-old John P. Morgridge?

The policy goes into effect for nominations at next year’s annual shareholders meeting that is expected to occur in November 2006.

However, vice chairman Donald T. Valentine and board member James F. Gibbons will be ineligible for re-nomination for the 2005 annual shareholders meeting in November. Both are remaining on the board through the date of the annual meeting with the company expected to cut the number of directors from 13 to 11.

By Glenn J. Kalinoski

Executive Editor, Customer Interaction Solutions