FEDERAL SIGNAL CORP.
Federal Signal Corp.’s board of directors elected Robert D. Welding as president and CEO, and elected him to the board of directors. Former CEO Joseph J. Ross continues as chairman. Welding most recently was executive vice president of BorgWarner and group president of the company’s Drivetrain group. Previously, he held senior-level positions with Volkswagen and General Motors.
NAVISTAR
Dee Kapur joined International Truck and Engine Corp. as president of the truck group. International Truck and Engine Corp. is the operating company of Navistar International Corp., a commercial truck, school bus and mid-range diesel engine producer. Kapur will lead the company’s truck and school bus business, including engineering and product development, manufacturing, vehicle center teams and sales and support. He also was named a member of the company’s executive council, which has responsibility for the operating results and strategic direction of the company.
NICOR
Nicor Inc. named Richard Hawley as executive vice president and CFO. Hawley will be responsible for the company’s finance, accounting, treasury, investor relations and information technology activities. Kathy Halloran, executive vice president, who formerly held the position, will focus on her new role as chief risk officer. Hawley was formerly CFO for Puget Energy Inc., in Bellevue, Wash. Previously, he spent 25 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he held various positions, including partner.
THE PAMPERED CHEF
The Pampered Chef appointed Marla Gottschalk president and COO. She will report to founder, chairman and CEO Doris K. Christopher. Gottschalk comes to The Pampered Chef from Kraft Foods Inc., where she worked since 1989 and advanced to senior vice president, financial planning and investor relations. Among past roles at Kraft, she held the position of executive vice president and general manager of the Post cereal business and vice president of marketing and strategy of the Kraft cheese division.
SOLUCIENT
Solucient, a business and clinical information provider for the health care industry, named Thomas Wilkas as CFO. Wilkas is responsible for financial planning and management and will work with Solucient’s senior leadership team to enhance fiscal performance across its various business units. He has 20 years of financial management experience in consumer products, manufacturing and technology. Most recently, he was CFO and executive vice president of finance, information technology, and purchasing at Huhtamaki Americas Inc. in Kansas City, Kan., a $700 million consumer packaging subsidiary of Huhtamaki Oyj.
STATS INC.
Sports information provider Stats Inc. named Gary Walrath as CEO. Walrath is responsible for extending Stats partnerships and growth in key business segments, including television, print, wireless applications, interactive media platforms and fantasy sports. He also will direct the new initiatives in international markets. Most recently, Walrath was executive vice president of operations for the Star Group, a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of News Corp., with television and media interests in the Middle East, India, China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
Cauz to lead Encyclopaedia Brittannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. appointed Jorge Cauz as president. Cauz will be Britannica’s senior executive, and all of the company’s operations worldwide will report to him. He will report to the board of directors.
A veteran Britannica executive, Cauz plans to continue the expansion of the company’s product line and marketing strategy, areas in which he has played a key role for nearly eight years.
During that time, the company began publishing in all digital media, adding to its traditional market in multivolume encyclopedias and other printed reference works. Today, Britannica holds several subscription sites on the Internet for consumers, schools and libraries.
Cauz says he’ll continue the creation of new products and services while emphasizing direct-to-consumer distribution channels and capitalizing on opportunities in the institutional market.
“The keys to success in the reference business today are continuous innovation through new products and smart distribution to maximize margins in a highly competitive climate,” Cauz says. “We’re going to focus keenly on both of these goals.”
Cauz joined the company as a consultant in 1996, served as senior vice president, international operations, and later as COO of Internet operations.
