Apple Inc. finally made changes to its board of directors in its post-Steve Jobs era. On Tuesday, the Cupertino, California-based company named Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D. as the Company's non-executive Chairman of the Board. Apple also announced that Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, will join Apple's board and will serve on the audit committee.

Continuity in Senior Leadership. Two years ago, Levinson was asked by federal officials to choose between Apple and Google. Of course, he picked Apple. Levinson served as a director of Google, Inc. from 2004 to 2009. Then Google CEO Eric Schmidt was an Apple board member for three years until he resigned in August 2009. Allegations that Google stole iPhone's touch-screen based platform to develop Android led to the fall-out.

Levinson has been a co-lead director of Apple's board since 2005, has served on all three board committees- audit and finance, nominating and corporate governance, and compensation-and will continue to serve on the audit committee.

"Art has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "He has been our longest serving co-lead director, and his insight and leadership are incredibly valuable to Apple, our employees and our shareholders."

Strong Ties With Disney. In 1986, Jobs bought Lucasfilm's computer graphics hardware business now named Pixar for $10 million. After years of unprofitability, it contracted with Disney to produce a number of computer-animated feature films that Disney would co-finance and distribute. The first film by the partnership, Toy Story, with Jobs credited as executive producer, brought fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995. In October 2005, Bob Iger replaced Michael Eisner as CEO at Disney. On January 24, 2006, Jobs and Iger announced that Disney had agreed to purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. When the deal closed, Jobs became The Walt Disney Company's largest single shareholder with approximately seven percent of the company's stock. Jobs joined Disney's board of directors upon completion of the merger.

According to Tim Cook, Iger's strategic vision for Disney is based on three fundamentals: generating the best creative content possible, fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology, and expanding into new markets around the world.

"Apple has achieved unprecedented success by consistently creating high quality, truly innovative products, and I am extremely pleased to join the board of such a wonderful company," said Iger. "Over the years, I have come to know and admire the management team, now ably led by Tim Cook, and I am confident they have the leadership and vision to ensure Apple's continued momentum and success."

Invention and Innovation. Apple is known for its innovative and revolutionary products. The new chairman is also known for his inventions. The new chairman, Levinson, has authored or co-authored more than 80 scientific articles and has been a named inventor on 11 United States patents. Levinson joined Genentech, Inc as a research scientist in 1980, and served as Genentech's Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 2009. He is currently chairman of Genentech, and member of the board of Roche, Genentech's parent.

Genentech is biotechnology corporation that employs 11,000 people. The company is currently working on antibodies as a potential treatment to delay progression of neuronal destruction in early Alzheimer's disease. Genentech has been on the Fortune Magazine's "100 Best Companies To Work For" for 18 straight years. It was named number one in 2006.

Levinson is also a director of Amyris, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Levinson currently serves on the Board of Scientific Consultants of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Advisory Council for the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. In 2008, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Levinson received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Washington and earned a doctorate in Biochemical Sciences from Princeton University.

No Chairman in Jobs Era. When Mr. Jobs was chief executive, Apple had no chairman. Mr. Jobs only took the title after resigning as chief executive in late August and naming his successor, Tim Cook. Jobs only held the position as Chairman for the few weeks before his death on Oct. 5.

Emerging Markets Push. Disney's and Apple's interests are aligned. While Apple already has 17% of worldwide smartphone sales, the Steve Jobs-founded company still has yet to gain dominance in emerging markets where Nokia Oyj and Samsung Electronics are market leaders. Disney too is setting its sights overseas. In an interview with CNBC's Julia Boorstin last week, Iger said that he sees the biggest growth opportunities for Disney overseas. He pointed to the theme park in the works in Shanghai, a pending TV acquisition in India and a new TV venture in Russia.