CFO Moves – week ending April 5, 2013

CFO Moves this week include:

Would you like to receive our weekly CFO Moves directly in your email? Click the SIGN ME UP! button on the right.

Should you have any CFO Moves to report, please email us.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Cargill announced that former Sara Lee executive, Marcel Smits, is its new chief financial officer. Smits, a native of the Netherlands, served in a variety of financial management positions for Unilever in Europe, Latin America and Asia throughout the mid-1980s and 1990s, lastly as senior vice president of finance for China. He subsequently served as CFO for two Dutch listed companies, first for Vendex KBB, a retail group, then for KPN, the country’s leading telecommunications service provider. Smits became CFO of Sara Lee in 2009 and was appointed CEO in early 2011. Cargill’s CFO position was vacated in November 2012 when Sergio Rial left the company to return to his native Brazil. Cargill President and Chief Operating Officer David MacLennan had added the duties of interim CFO to his responsibilities up until now.

Eventbrite announced it has hired Mark Rubash to be the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Formerly the CFO at Shutterfly and senior member of the Finance leadership teams at eBay and Yahoo!, Rubash is the first c-level executive hired from outside the company. Rubash currently serves on the Boards of Intuitive Surgical, Iron Planet and Line 6, and has also served in executive roles at HeartFlow, Rearden Commerce and Critical Path.

Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) announced that Steve Skaggs, who currently serves as Atmel’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Development, has also been appointed interim Chief Financial Officer of Atmel. This appointment follows Stephen Cumming’s decision to resign as Atmel’s Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Cumming will remain with Atmel for a short period to facilitate the transition. Mr. Skaggs joined Atmel in 2010. He worked previously at Lattice Semiconductor, where he served as President and CEO and also as CFO. Prior to Lattice, Mr. Skaggs was employed by Bain & Company.

Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) announced the appointment of Akhil Johri as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective May 1, 2013. Mr. Johri is currently Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer for United Technologies Corporation’s (UTC) Propulsion & Aerospace Systems group. Prior to his current role, he served as CFO for UTC’s Carrier Transicold and UTC’s Fire & Security units as well as for Carrier Asia Pacific Operations. He led Corporate Investor Relations for UTC and has been very involved with UTC’s Financial Leadership Development program. Pall President and CEO Larry Kingsley, who was recently named interim CFO, will continue in that role until Mr. Johri officially joins Pall.

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXA) announced the appointment of Karthik Radhakrishnan as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Radhakrishnan most recently was a Vice President at ING Investment Management in New York. Previously he was the senior analyst at Eagle Asset Management. Prior to this, Mr. Radhakrishnan started his financial career at The Dow Chemical Company. He replaces David Jorden, Opexa’s Acting CFO, who will continue to serve as a Director of the Company.

SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX) has appointed Marshall W. Witt as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Witt will be assuming the role from Thomas Alsborg who announced his retirement last year. Most recently, Mr. Witt was Senior Vice President of Finance and Controller with FedEx Freight, a $5.3 billion subsidiary of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX).

Rocket Software announced that Paul Walsh has joined the company as vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to joining Rocket, he served as CFO at Silicon Laboratories; previously he held various operational, finance, controller, and management roles at PerkinElmer, Teradyne and Analog Devices. He serves on the board of directors of Nitero, and previously served on the board of Grande Communications & Rio Holdings.

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. announced the appointment of Ajay Bansal as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Bansal most recently served as Chief Financial Officer at Complete Genomics. Prior to Complete Genomics, Mr. Bansal served as the CFO and EVP, Corporate and Business Development, at both Lexicon Therapeutics and Tercica, Inc. Tercica was acquired by Ipsen in 2008. He also served as the CFO of Nektar Therapeutics from 2003-2006.

Contegix announced that it has hired Michael Wylie as Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Wylie held the role of Chief Financial Officer at Pulse Broadband. Prior to that, Wylie held roles as the Chief Financial Officer for Broadstripe Cable and Chief Accounting Officer for Suddenlink Communications.

ADS Tactical, Inc. announced that Karan Rai has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President replacing Patricia Bohlen. Mr. Rai joined ADS in August 2012 serving in various roles, including Vice President of International Strategic Development, and, more recently, as the Vice President of Corporate Development. Prior to joining ADS, Mr. Rai was a Vice President in JPMorgan’s Investment Bank where he spent seven years covering Defense/Aerospace companies in the Leverage/Acquisition Finance Group.

SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) announced that Sherry Smith, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will leave the company at the end of May. Smith has served as the company’s CFO since her appointment in December 2010. She has spent 26 years with SUPERVALU and previously served as senior vice president, finance.

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. announced that Myles R. Itkin has left the Company as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Company. Captain Ian T. Blackley will serve as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Company effective immediately. Captain Blackley has been the Senior Vice President and Head of International Shipping Operations.

Orthofix International N.V. (NASDAQ: OFIX) announced that it has appointed Emily Buxton as its Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Buxton had been serving as the Company’s Interim Chief Financial Officer since October 2012. Ms. Buxton joined Orthofix’s corporate finance group in 2003 as a Senior SEC and Consolidations Accountant. After advancing to the position of Vice President, Controller, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Global Orthopedics for Orthofix from 2010 to the time of her appointment as Interim Chief Financial Officer.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) announced that Larry Hilsheimer has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer. Hilsheimer was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company from 2007 through 2009. He then served as president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Direct & Customer Solutions and most recently was president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Retirement Plans. Prior to Nationwide, he was vice chairman and regional managing partner for Deloitte & Touche USA, LLP and served on the board of directors of the Deloitte Foundation.

ShopRunner announced that Scott Simmons has joined the company as its chief operating and financial officer (COO/CFO). Scott joins ShopRunner after most recently serving as president of NexTag Inc. At NexTag, Simmons served in a variety of roles beginning with vice president of finance and extending to vice president of business development; vice president and general manager, services shopping; SVP marketing and ultimately president of NexTag. Prior to his tenure at NexTag, Simmons held a variety of financial positions with Real Time Data and Prudential Investment Corporation.

My Alarm Center announced that it has welcomed Scott Peterson as its new Chief Financial Officer.  Most recently, Mr. Peterson served as the CFO for Eyewitness Surveillance. He has also been CFO at PS Energy Group Inc., and Integrated Excellence, LLC; VP for the New England Division of Wind River Environmental; and CFO and VP of Residential Operations for Smith Alarm Systems, Inc.

Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (NYSE: DRC) announced that Jan Kees van Gaalen will become Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dresser-Rand, effective May 1, 2013. Mr. van Gaalen succeeds Mark Baldwin, whose impending retirement was previously announced. Mr. van Gaalen joins Dresser-Rand from Baker Hughes Inc., where he served as Vice President and Treasurer. Before joining Baker Hughes, he was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Finance for PT Inco Tbk based in Jakarta, Indonesia, the publicly traded Indonesian subsidiary of Vale Inco Ltd. Prior to this he held a variety of finance positions with Anglo American plc, Carlton Communications plc and Schlumberger Ltd. in France, the United Kingdom,Venezuela, Brazil and South Africa.

Tides announced that Judith Hill will join as CFO effective May 1st, 2013. Hill was the Chief Financial Officer at Envision Education Foundation. Hill has held senior financial leadership positions at the Excel Group, San Francisco Art Institute, and Heald College.

Consolidated Precision Products Corp. announced the appointment of Andy Klaus as Chief Financial Officer. Klaus, who assumes CFO responsibilities from Ron Hamilton, who has been appointed as the Vice President of CPP’s Structural Investment Casting Group. Mr. Klaus recently joined from JMC Steel Group where he served as Corporate Controller.  Previously, Mr. Klaus served in various financial and accounting roles at companies including Royal Appliance Manufacturing and TTI Floor Care North America.

Vystar Corporation (OTC: VYST) announced that Dean Waters has been appointed as the Company’s new full-time Chief Financial Officer. Dean Waters is an active member of Vystar’s Board of Directors since his appointment in 2008, chairing the Audit Committee and serving on the Compensation Committee. He was the Founder and Managing Director of FiveFold Capital.  Prior to founding FiveFold Capital, Mr. Waters was Senior Vice President of Commerce Street Capital’s bank development group. Prior to Commerce Street, Mr. Waters was a Managing Partner of Poseidon Capital Investments, LLC.  He was also Senior Vice President, Director and one of the founding members of the Capital Markets Group within GMAC Commercial Finance’s Equipment Finance Division. Before that, he was Managing Director of Equity Distributions of Bank of America Leasing & Capital Group.

ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) announced that Bruce Dirks has agreed to join as Chief Financial Officer. Shawn Duffy, who has served as interim CFO since August 2012, will continue in her position as Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller of the company. Mr. Dirks has served as a portfolio manager at Fidelity Management & Research Company since 2000. Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Dirks was vice president – Investments at TRW Investment Management Company from 1993 to 2000. Mr. Dirks began his career at Raytheon Company as a financial analyst and also worked on the corporate finance team at General Dynamics Corporation.

Aztec Oil & Gas, Inc. (OTC: AZGS) (“Aztec”) announced that its long time CFO, Larry Hornbrook , is retiring effective April 30, 2013. Upon retirement, Mr. Hornbrook will be replaced by John Smith, a Senior Partner of Schmuck, Smith, Tees & Company, P.C.

TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) announced that Sydney Carey, TIBCO executive vice president and chief financial officer, has decided to leave the company to pursue an opportunity with a private, venture-backed technology company. Murray Rode, TIBCO chief operating officer and whose current responsibilities include the finance organization, will take on the added responsibilities of interim CFO until a permanent replacement is found. Mr. Rode previously served as CFO from late 2005 through 2008.

Evolution Fuels, Inc. (PINK: EVFND) announced that Pun Mo Chung has been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company as well as to serve as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Since 2007, Mr. Pun has served as the General Manager of Candid Global Resources H.K. Ltd. Tan Yuen Hing resigned as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer but will continue to serve as a member of its Board of Directors.

Cytomedix, Inc. (OTC: CMXI) announced the appointment of Steven A. Shallcross as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer, effective as of May 10, 2013. Mr. Shallcross replaces Andrew Maslan, who has served as Chief Financial Officer of Cytomedix since 2005 and will resign effective May 10, 2013 to pursue further career opportunities. Mr. Shallcross presently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Empire Petroleum Partners, LLC. Previously, he served as Acting Chief Financial Officer for Sensors for Medicine and Science, Inc. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Innocoll Holdings, Inc. Mr. Shallcross also held Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer positions at Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and at MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formally Advancis Pharmaceutical Corporation).

Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ: FARM)  announced that Mark J. Nelson will join the Company as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer. Since 2010, he has been serving as Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer of Newport Corporation. From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Nelson held various senior financial roles at Newport Corporation as Vice President and Controller, Vice President and General Manager of its Optical Components division and Finance Director of its Photonics division. Prior to Newport Corporation, he held the positions of Finance Director in Thermo Electron Corporation, Cost and Budget Manager at C.R. Bard, Inc., co-owner and Chief Financial Officer of Western Energy Services, Inc. and Financial Management Program Trainee with the General Electric Company. Jeffrey A. Wahba, the Company’s Interim Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, will assist with the executive transition.

Hudson Valley Holding Corp. (NYSE: HVB) announced that the Company has named William E. Whiston, Chief Financial Officer of the Archdiocese of New York, to the Board of Directors of the Company and Hudson Valley Bank, N.A. Mr. Whiston has been Chief Financial Officer of the Archdiocese of New York since 2002. During his tenure he served as President of the Catholic Umbrella Pool, a casualty/liability reinsurance vehicle for forty dioceses. Prior to joining the Archdiocese of New York, Mr. Whiston spent 29 years at Allied Irish Bank, where he served in a number of executive positions in areas including lending, product development and operations/compliance.

AssureRx Health, Inc. announced the appointment of Stephen A. Stamp as Senior Vice President & CFO. Stephen has served as Chief Financial Officer of EZCORP, Inc.; Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Executive Vice President Business Development at Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Group Finance Director at Regus PLC; and Group Finance Director at Shire PLC. Earlier in his career, Stephen was an investment banker with Lazard in London,