ANSYS, a global innovator of simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes, has announced that its board of directors has elected Bill McDermott, President and Chief Executive Officer of SAP Americas & Asia Pacific Japan, to the ANSYS board. He also has been appointed to the Compensation Committee. Since 2002, McDermott has been an executive and Corporate Officer at SAP, the largest business software company in the world. He is currently responsible for managing SAP's business activities throughout North and South America as well as Asia Pacific. Prior to SAP, McDermott served as Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales Operations at Siebel Systems and as President of Gartner, Inc. He spent 17 years at Xerox Corporation holding various senior management positions including President of U.S. Major Account Organization and Senior Vice President / General Manager of Xerox Business Systems. McDermott has a B.S. degree in business administration from Dowling College and an MBA from Northwestern University. He serves on the board of directors of Under Armour, a performance apparel company dedicated to technologically advanced products, and PAETEC Communications, a nationwide integrated communications provider. "I am very pleased to welcome Bill to our board of directors," said Peter Smith, Chairman of ANSYS, Inc. "His considerable strategic and operational business experience in enterprise software, coupled with his top-level marketing savvy, will be an invaluable addition to our board."