Apple on Monday announced its senior vice president of hardware engineering as its successor to CEO Tim Cook, who helmed the California-based company for more than a decade.
The selection of John Ternus, who will assume his new role on Sept. 1 to ensure a smooth transition, was unanimously approved by the Cupertino company’s board of directors and “follows a thoughtful, long-term succession planning process,” Apple said in a news release.
“John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future,” Cook said in the release. “I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman.”
Ternus said he has spent most of his career at Apple with Cook as a mentor.
“I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century,” Ternus said in the release.
Who is John Ternus? 
John Ternus, VP Hardware Engineering speaks at Apple event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 30, 2018.
Currently, Ternus leads the company’s hardware engineering behind iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Vision Pro and more, the company said.
Ternus, 50, has been considered a possible successor to Cook, with profiles in both The New York Times and Bloomberg.
He started his career as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems in 1997 after earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, according to Apple.
More: What could be next for Apple with new CEO John Ternus
Ternus’ journey at Apple started in 2001 when he joined the company’s design team.
In 2013, Ternus became the company’s vice president of hardware engineering. Eight years later, he joined the company’s executive team as senior vice president of hardware of engineering.
During Ternus’ time at Apple, he has “overseen hardware engineering work on a variety of groundbreaking products across every category,” according to Apple.
“He was instrumental in the introduction of multiple new product lines, including iPad and AirPods, as well as many generations of products across iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch,” Apple said.
Additionally, Ternus’ work on Mac helped the product line become “more powerful and more popular globally than at any time in its 40-year history,” the company said, adding that his work was pivotal in the recent introduction of MacBook Neo.
His team’s work was also crucial in the development of “redefined iPhone lineup” last fall, which included the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone Air, and the iPhone 17.
“Under his leadership, his team also drove advancements in AirPods to make them the world’s best in-ear headphones, with unprecedented active noise cancellation, as well as the capability to become an all-in-one hearing health system that can serve as over-the-counter hearing aids,” according to Apple.
The company credits Ternus’ work as helping its “focus in areas like reliability and durability, introducing new techniques that have made Apple products remarkably resilient.”
His work has also helped drive Apple’s innovation in materials and hardware design to reduce products’ carbon footprint, “including the creation of a new, recycled aluminum compound that has been introduced across multiple product lines, the use of 3-D printed titanium in Apple Watch Ultra 3, and innovations in repairability that have increased the lifespans of several Apple products,” the company said.
Arthur Levinson, who has been Apple’s non-executive chairman for the past 15 years and will become its lead independent director in September, credited Ternus’ “unprecedented and outstanding leadership” as helping transforming “Apple into the world’s best company.”
“He’s introduced groundbreaking products and services time and again, and his integrity and values are infused into everything Apple does,” Levinson said in a release.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is John Ternus? Apple names Tim Cook’s successor