Joe Tuccie is to reign supreme at storage giant EMC Corporation, taking over as chairman of the board of directors, effective January 1, 2006.  Tucci will also continue to serve as president and chief executive officer of EMC, giving him absolute control of the company.

Mike Ruettgers, who has been EMC’s chairman since January 2001 and has served as an EMC director since 1992, has resigned from the board of directors effective December 31, 2005.  He will continue as a senior advisor to the EMC board and management.

“Joe Tucci has clearly been the right leader at the right time for EMC,” said Ruettgers. “In five years as president and CEO, Joe has led EMC through a remarkable period of transformation, resurgence and success.  He has broadened our portfolio through both internal investment and strategic acquisitions that give us the most comprehensive set of information lifecycle management offerings in the world.  He has built a deep and talented bench. And he and the people of EMC have now delivered nine straight quarters of double-digit year-to-year revenue growth.”

Ruettgers, 62, joined EMC in 1988 and served as CEO from 1992 until January 2001. He was named executive chairman in January 2001 and chairman in January 2004. He has led EMC’s proactive corporate governance, focusing on shaping the composition and expertise of EMC’s independent and fully engaged board.

“We have been incredibly fortunate to have the benefit of Mike’s wisdom and guidance in leading our board over the past five years,” said Tucci. “He has done so much for this industry, and especially for the employees and customers of EMC, through the best of times and the most challenging. He has been a mentor and a friend, and we are very pleased that he will continue to provide his time and advice to us as we move forward.”

Tucci, 58, joined EMC in January 2000 as president and chief operating officer, ascending to president and CEO a year later. He has overseen the most aggressive new-product introduction cycles in the company’s history, led EMC into multi-platform, open software for storage, information and content management, broadened industry alliances and partnerships, and completed more than 20 acquisitions to broaden EMC’s market leadership, technology offerings, and growth potential.