Facebook adds Washington heavyweight Erskine Bowles to board of directors

Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, has joined Facebook's board of directors, the company announced Wednesday in a press release.

Bowles, a longtime presence in U.S. politics and president emeritus of the University of North Carolina, recently served as a co-chair on President Obama's bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

"Erskine has held important roles in government, academia and business which have given him insight into how to build organizations and navigate complex issues," said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook.

"Along with his experience founding companies, this will be very valuable as we continue building new things to help make the world more open and connected," Zuckerberg said.

Bowles helmed the Small Business Administration under Mr. Clinton, and was ultimately appointed to the former president's cabinet, where he served on the National Security Council and the National Economic Council.

"Facebook has clearly emerged as a transformative force in the world," Bowles said.

"It's no wonder given the talent Mark has put in place and the company's focus and dedication to its mission. I'm really looking forward to getting to work and helping Facebook however I can."

The addition of Bowles marks the second big name addition in the last several months: In June, Facebook named Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings to the board.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that the company, which is expected to go public at some point next year, doubled its revenue to $1.6 billion in 2011's first half.

Bowles will join Hastings, Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Jim Breyer, Donald E. Graham and Peter Thiel on the board.