Intel Corp. has promoted Craig R. Barrett,...

Intel Corp. has promoted Craig R. Barrett, executive vice president, to chief operating officer, solidifying the 53-year-old executive’s position as the eventual successor to Chief Executive Andrew S. Grove.

Barrett, a former assistant professor of materials sciences at Stanford University, joined the Santa Clara, Calif.-based firm in 1974 as manager of technology development. He supervises all of Intel’s worldwide manufacturing operations and was elected to the board of directors last year.

He has been credited with smoothing manufacturing operations and helping the company maintain consistently stellar financial results for the last several years. Intel has not had a chief operating officer since Grove was promoted from that post to CEO in 1987.