FAIRFIELD, Conn. - February 15, 2013 - The Board of Directors of General Electric Company [NYSE: GE] has elected Francisco "Frank" D'Souza, CEO and director, Cognizant Technology Solutions, as a GE director. He was elected by the GE Board at its meeting today.

"Frank D'Souza brings great perspective as a leader and a pioneer in services and software," said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. "Our focus on helping customers achieve greater productivity through GE technologies make his views all the more valuable for our company. I am pleased to welcome Frank to our board."

D'Souza is an independent director under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards and GE's independence guidelines. D'Souza's election brings GE's board to 19 members, 17 of whom are independent.

D'Souza is one of the founders of Cognizant and has been CEO and a director since 2007. Cognizant is a global leader in business and technology services, helping transform core processes for greater flexibility, higher efficiency, and lower cost.

In addition to his leadership of Cognizant, D'Souza is a director of the U.S.-India Business Council and a Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University. D'Souza graduated from the University of East Asia with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, and holds a Master's degree of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.