I greatly admire what theyve built and have no doubt that Google has a terrific future.

Not much more information has been given about the reasoning for Levinsons departure from Googles board, or any future plans for him. Levinson is the former Chairman and CEO of Genentech, where he held the titles from 1995 to April of this year. He was named chairman of the board in 1999. According to Wikipedia, Levinson was rated the nicest CEO of 2008 by Glassdoor.com, with a 93 approval rating. He has also sat on Apples board. The site gives more of a bio on him He received his bachelors degree from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1972, and his PhD in Biochemistry from Princeton University in 1977. He subsequently moved to a postdoctoral position with Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus in the Department of Microbiology at UCSF, from where he was hired to Genentech by Herb Boyer.