New Apple Chairman

John A. Sculley, 46, who has been Apple’s president and chief executive since joining the firm in April, 1983, was elected to the additional post of chairman.

The office had been vacant since Sept. 17, when Apple co-founder Steven P. Jobs left the Cupertino, Calif., company to start his own computer firm.

It had been expected that Sculley eventually would be given the chairman’s duties, and analysts said Wednesday that Apple’s recent strong earnings performance solidified Sculley’s position at the No. 2 personal computer maker.

Sculley has been in sole control of Apple since last June, when he emerged the victor in a bitter dispute with Jobs and implemented a major reorganization that stripped Jobs of any responsibility for day-to-day operations.

The board’s vote followed Apple’s annual shareholders meeting, at which Sculley once again extended an olive branch to Jobs, the mercurial young entrepreneur who hired Sculley.