Knauss named Coca-Cola executive VP
The board of directors of The Coca-Cola Co. elected Donald R. Knauss executive vice president.
Knauss was named president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola North America in February. He joined the company in 1994 as senior vice president of marketing for The Minute Maid Co. and was named senior vice president and general manager, U.S. Division, in 1996. Knauss served for nearly two years as president of the Southern Africa Division, managing the company’s business in 10 countries of Southern Africa. He was named president and CEO of The Minute Maid Co. in 2000, and became president of the Retail Division of Coca-Cola North America in 2003.
Knauss served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He serves on the board of trustees for the United States Marine Corps University Foundation, the board of trustees for Camp Coca-Cola and the board of directors of the National Soft Drink Association.
Through the world’s largest distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries consume the company’s beverages at a rate exceeding 1 billion servings each day.
Also, Coca-Cola Co. announced that General Counsel Deval Patrick will move the date of his resignation to the end of the year. Patrick joined Coca-Cola in 2001.
LANIER WORLDWIDE INC.
Lanier Worldwide Inc. named Ann Franks vice president of Information Technology. She will lead the company’s efforts to develop IT-friendly document management solutions and enable customers’ IT teams to meet corporate goals for document-related cost savings.
Franks joined the Lanier Information Systems organization in 1979, and has held numerous positions related to systems development, software re-engineering and enterprise resources planning implementations. In 1995, she joined the international division as the International Systems manager, advancing to director of IT for Canada, Latin America and South America. She relocated to Brussels, Belgium, in 1999 to head the IT organization for Lanier Europe, and returned to Atlanta in August 2002.
Franks replaces Sean Magee, who was promoted to lead IT efforts for Ricoh Corp., Lanier’s parent company.
DATATRAC CORP.
R. Lee Morris was appointed vice president and chief financial officer of Datatrac Corp., a provider for the time-sensitive logistics industry. He is responsible for managing all financial, legal, and human resource activities as the company expands delivery of its real-time logistics network solutions to shippers, freight forwarders and delivery service companies.
Most recently, he was a managing director with EGL Holding LLC. Prior to that, he served as CFO and as a director for a number of Georgia-based companies, including DocuCorp International and American Technical Services Group. He also served as CFO for E3 Corp. and Allure Fusion Media. Morris began his career in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
EARTHLINK INC.
EarthLink Inc. Vice President of Finance and Principal Accounting Officer Kevin M. Dotts was named chief financial officer, replacing Lee Adrean, who is leaving for a new opportunity.
At General Electric, Dotts held a succession of increasingly more senior finance positions. He also served on GE’s corporate audit staff, in its plastics division both domestically and internationally, at NBC, and most recently as the financial leader of a $1.5 billion business unit of GE Power Systems. Since joining EarthLink, Dotts has reported directly to Adrean, and he and his department have been responsible for financial and management reporting, financial planning and analysis and corporate purchasing.
AGCO CORP.
AGCO Corp., a worldwide designer, manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, announces the re-election of the following directors to the board: Wayne Booker, Gerald Johanneson, Curtis Moll and Robert Ratliff. These directors will serve as Class III directors until the annual meeting in 2007 or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified.
DELTA AIR LINES
M. Michele Burns, executive vice president and chief financial officer, has left Delta Air Lines. She will join Mirant Corp. of Atlanta as executive vice president and chief financial officer, and lead the company’s financial restructuring.
U.S. REALTEL INC.
U.S. RealTel Inc.’s board of directors appointed Gregory P. McGraw, the company’s president, to the additional post of CEO. McGraw replaces Charles B. McNamee, the former CEO and director, who left the company in March. McGraw, who has filled the position of acting CEO since March 15, has more than 20 years of executive management experience in telecommunications, most recently serving as president and chief operating officer of U.S. RealTel Inc., Cypress Communications Inc. and its subsidiaries since February 2002.
COUSINS/WEEKS
Forrest Robinson was named president of the newly formed Cousins/Weeks, a joint venture between Cousins Properties Inc. and Weeks Properties. The new entity will to develop and own industrial properties. Robinson comes to Cousins from Miami-based Codina Group, where he served as president of development. Prior to Codina, Robinson spent more than 20 years with Weeks Corp., including seven years as president and COO.
