Kevin Schofield, Microsoft Research’s general manager and chief operations officer, has left the company’s research division after 17 years, he said on Facebook over the weekend. Schofield hasn’t yet announced what he’s doing next. He clarified in a message to GeekWire that he has left Microsoft Research but not Microsoft.
The computer scientist has been a longtime mainstay of Microsoft Research, overseeing its business affairs and operations and helping to shape its technical strategy and priorities. MSR includes more than 1,100 engineers and scientists who work across a wide swath of computer science, focusing on basic research while also contributing to the company’s products.
Schofield’s role included developing MSR’s relationships with the company’s product groups, and over the years he has been a staunch defender of the research division’s role in the company and in the broader field of computer science.
He wrote on Facebook, “I love MSR and the direction it’s going in, and part of me is sad to be leaving, but I’d also been there a long, long time and it’s probably good for me to exercise some different muscles. … I’m good, MSR is good, we’re all good, and I’m looking forward to what comes next.”
Schofield’s departure is the latest change at MSR, which saw longtime research chief Rick Rashid leave for a new role in Microsoft’s operating systems group as part of Microsoft’s broader reorganization last year. Microsoft exec Peter Lee now heads up Microsoft Research worldwide.
We’ve contacted Microsoft Research seeking comment.
