• Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar Inc. announced that vice president and chief financial officer F. Lynn McPheeters will retire February 1, after 40 years with the engine and heavy equipment maker. Corporate controller David B. Burritt will succeed McPheeters as vice president and CFO and head Caterpillar’s corporate services division. He starts December 1. Replacing Burritt will be Bradley M. Halverson, currently director of corporate financial reporting. Fresh from college in 1964, McPheeters started at Caterpillar as a trainee. Steadily moving up the ladder, he was named treasurer in 1996 and CFO in 1998.
• Richard A. Smith, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Dallas-based hotel and resort operator Wyndham International Inc. has resigned to pursue another opportunity. His resignation is effective as of October 29. Elizabeth Schroeder, Wyndham’s current senior vice president of finance, strategic planning and investor relations, has been named Smith’s successor as executive VP and acting CFO.
• Vodafone Plc appointed Andrew Halford to succeed Ken Hydon as financial director when he retires in July. Halford is currently chief financial officer of Verizon Wireless, 45 percent owned by Vodafone. Between 1999 and 2001, Halford served as finance director of Vodafone’s U.K. unit. New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. owns the rest of Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone company.
• Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell appointed Robert Dubow to the new position of executive deputy secretary of the budget and chief financial officer of the Commonwealth. Dubow comes to the Rendell administration from Philadelphia, where he served as the city’s budget director. Dubow also served a brief stint as Amtrak’s senior director for budgets.
• Car-parts industry veteran Barry G. Steele joined Dearborn, Michigan-based Amerigon Inc. as vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Steele replaces William J. Wills who resigned to take advantage of another opportunity. Since 1997, Steele had been with Advanced Accessory Systems, LLC, where his most recent position was VP of finance and chief accounting officer. He also held the treasurer, and controller jobs, and served as CFO for two years. Amerigon develops climate control seat products to automotive equipment manufacturers.
• Peter Presperin, executive vice president and chief financial officer, is leaving Novato, California-based Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. to pursue other opportunities. The Allianz unit said it plans to announce a replacement shortly. Presperin joined Fireman’s Fund in 2003 as the head of the newly formed Discontinued Operations unit. In January 2004, Presperin was named CFO and elected to the board of directors.
• William J. Knight has been appointed chief financial officer at Bruker BioSciences Corp. in Billerica, Mass. Knight was most recently CFO of Anika Therapeutics Inc., a publicly traded medical device company located in Woburn, Mass. Previously, Knight served as finance chief for Zycos Inc., a private biotechnology company, and NMT Medical Inc. and Zoll Medical Corp., both publicly traded medical device companies.
• Action Performance Companies Inc. announced that chief financial officer, secretary, and treasurer R. David Martin resigned effective immediately. Corporate controller Stephanie Caldwell will step in as interim CFO until management completes its search for a permanent replacement. Phoenix-based Action markets and distributes licensed motor sports merchandise.
• Dallas-based Quadrem, an E-marketplace, tapped Gary Ito to be its new chief financial officer. Ito joins Quadrem after more than 18-years with Nortel Networks where he held a variety of positions including director of finance for Nortel Networks Japan and controller for the Asia Pacific region.
• Tampa, Florida-based tech support firm MBSL Group Inc. appointed Gary Bogatay as chief financial officer. Bogatay began his career at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, and has held senior financial positions at Guardian Protection Services, Career Education Corp., as well as iGate Corp., an information technology and Internet consultancy. At iGate, Bogatay served as VP of finance for the company’s financial services subsidiary, Symphoni Interactive .
• Vical Inc., a San Diego-based biotech company appointed Jill M. Church as vice president, chief financial officer, and secretary. Since February 1999, Church has been vice president of finance and controller of dj Orthopedics Inc. For nearly five years before joining dj Orthopedics, Church served as an audit manager in the San Diego office of Ernst & Young, LLP.
• Daniel C. Tam is the new chief financial officer of Kistler Aerospace Corp. Before joining Kistler, Tam was vice president, operations and finance, for telecom systems manufacturer AOPTIX Technologies Inc. His experience also includes executive positions with TRW (now Northrop Grumman) and NASA in finance, operations, and program management capacities.