NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Al Gore, the former presidential candidate, has taken his first board room job since leaving politics by becoming a director at Apple Computer, the company said Wednesday.

Gore, who served as the 45th vice president under Bill Clinton, was elected at Apple's board meeting Wednesday. A company spokesperson declined to disclose his compensation.

Steve Jobs, the CEO of Cupertino, Calif.- based Apple called Gore an "avid Mac user" who "does his own video editing in Final Cut Pro."

Al Gore

"Al is going to be a terrific director, and we're excited and honored that he has chosen Apple as his first private sector board to serve on," Jobs said in a statement.

Gore, 54, becomes the sixth member of Apple's board, which is unusual for its lack of a chairman.

Gore and Apple would seem a good fit. As a member of Congress, Gore was early in recognizing the potential of the Internet, and has had a long-standing interest in computer networks.

While he pushed to get classrooms connected to the Internet, critics contend that he took undue credit for the Internet's invention during a 1999 interview with CNN.

Shares of Apple (AAPL: Research, Estimates) fell 5 cents to $14.95 Wednesday ahead of the news which was released after the closing bell.

Since his defeat in the 2000 presidential election, Gore has become a visiting professor at the University of California Los Angeles, Fisk University and Middle Tennessee State University.

"Steve and his team have done an incredible job in making Apple once again the very best in the world," Gore said in a statement. "I have been particularly impressed with the new Mac OS X operating system and the company's commitment to the open source movement. And I am especially looking forward to working with and learning from the great board members who have guided this legendary company's inspiring resurgence."

Apple's board meets four times a year, a spokeswoman said.