STAMFORD, Conn.-Dec. 3, 2001--The Board of Directors of Xerox Corporation today elected Anne M. Mulcahy, president and chief executive officer, to the additional post as chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2002. Mulcahy succeeds Paul A. Allaire, who has been chairman since 1991 and will retire from the Xerox Board at the end of this year. "Anne has won the respect of the Board and Xerox people through her effective execution of Xerox's turnaround and the focused direction she has set for the company's future,'' said Allaire. "This appointment is a strong vote of confidence in Anne's dynamic leadership and her commitment to accelerating the power of the Xerox brand through innovative technology and services. She's the right person at the right time to lead the growth and success of Xerox.'' Mulcahy, 49, was named chief executive officer of Xerox in August, following her appointment in May 2000 as president and chief operating officer. Since that time, Mulcahy has led the company's progress in achieving its turnaround targets including selling $2.2 billion in assets, reducing costs by more than $1 billion, transitioning equipment financing to third-parties, and strengthening Xerox's core growth opportunities in the production printing, networked office and document services markets. She began her 25-year Xerox career as a field sales representative in Boston and assumed increasingly responsible management and executive positions, including chief staff officer and president of Xerox's General Markets Operations. Allaire, 63, was named president of Xerox in 1986 and chief executive officer in 1990. He is credited for reinventing Xerox in the 1990s from a predominantly black-and-white light lens copier company to a digital, color and document solutions enterprise. Under his leadership, Xerox launched breakthrough technologies that created new market opportunities and influenced the industry's transition to digital, including DocuTech production publishing systems, DocumentCentre networked multifunction devices, and DocuColor digital color printers/copiers. Allaire joined Xerox in 1966 as a financial analyst in Rochester, N.Y. Prior to his appointments as president and chief executive officer, he held such positions as chief staff officer and managing director of Rank Xerox, now Xerox Europe. Mulcahy will assume the title of chairman and chief executive officer on Jan. 1, 2002. At that time, the position of president will be eliminated.