The former chairman and CEO of US AT&T Corp. Edward Whitacre was named the new chairman of General Motors Corp.'s Board of Directors on Tuesday.

The move comes eight days after the largest US automaker GM filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and starts to fulfill the government's mandate to replace a majority of the automaker's board as a condition of the more than US$19.4 billion in loans given to the company, according to a report by the Detroit News.

Whitacre will become chairman of the "New GM" when it is launched out of bankruptcy court, which is expected this summer. Until then, interim Chairman Kent Kresa will continue to serve as chairman of GM's board.

"I am honored to be able to serve GM at this critical juncture and take part in its reinvention," Whitacre said in a statement.

"The appointment of Ed Whitacre as chairman represents a very auspicious beginning for the New GM," Kresa said in a statement. "We look forward to working with him to complete the reinvention of GM and maximize the enormous potential of this new enterprise."

A White House spokeswoman hailed the hire.

Whitacre, 67, served at AT&T and its predecessor companies for 17 years before retiring in 2007 with a US$161.6 million payout, having built AT&T into the largest telecommunications company in the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2009)