Mozilla announced today that it has appointed Chris Beard as CEO of Mozilla Corp., the for-profit part of Mozilla. They’re going with Beard after reviewing “many internal and external candidates”.

Beard was appointed interim CEO (as well as to the board of directors) back in April after Brendan Eich stepped down amid controversy surrounding his support for California anti-gay law Prop 8. He’s been with Mozilla since 2004 before they even shipped Firefox 1.0. The company says he’s been “deeply involved in every aspect of Mozilla ever since.” From the Mozilla blog:

During his many years here, he at various times has had responsibility for almost every part of the business, including product, marketing, innovation, communications, community and user engagement.

Before taking on the interim CEO role, Chris spent close to a year as Executive-in-Residence at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners, gaining a deeper perspective on innovation and entrepreneurship. During his term at Greylock, he remained an Advisor to me in my role as Mozilla’s chair.

Board member Katharina Borchert said, ““Chris has been deeply involved with Mozilla for a long time but has also been able to gain a fresh perspective in the last year. He understands the importance of the Mozilla community and has a strong product vision. I’m confident that he is the right person to lead Mozilla and help fulfill the mission in a radically changing landscape.”

Board member Reid Hoffman said, “I’ve worked with Chris for nearly a decade. He brings the leadership that inspires and unites community, products, and technology for a free and open web. He is the right CEO for Mozilla, as the organization, community, and movement for open technologies.”

Since Beard took over in April, Mozilla has released major updates to Firefox, launched Firefox OS with new operators and devices, announced Firefox OS’ expansion into new markets, filed comments with the FCC regarding net neutrality, and launched the Maker Party.

Image via Greylock Partners