• Consumer products maker Playtex Products Inc. appointed Kris Kelley executive vice president and chief financial officer. She replaces Glenn Forbes, who will retire at the end of the year. Kelley joined the Westport, Connecticut-based company in October as senior vice president of finance.
• McAfee Inc. named Eric F. Brown executive vice president and chief financial officer effective January 3. Brown will join the Santa Clara, California-based computer-security specialist from business-intelligence software developer MicroStrategy Inc., where he has been president and CFO since 2000. He previously served as division finance chief and division chief operating officer of Electronic Arts, a developer of interactive entertainment software, and was a co-founder and CFO of DataSage Inc., a maker of e-business personalization software. At McAfee, Brown will take over for COO and CFO Steve Richards, who will be retiring at the end of the year.
• Meanwhile, in McLean, Virginia, MicroStrategy announced that effective January 1, Arthur S. Locke III will assume the CFO chair vacated by Eric Brown. Locke joined MicroStrategy in 2001; previously he was CFO of Biospherics, corporate controller at EIS International, and manager of SEC reporting at NVR Inc. Michael J. Saylor, MicroStrategy’s chief executive officer, will assume the duties of president, also currently held by Brown.
• At utility holding company PG&E, chief financial officer Peter Darbee will take the position of chief executive in January when the current CEO, Robert Glynn Jr., steps down. Senior vice president and controller Christopher Johns will succeed Darbee as CFO while retaining his current titles.
• PalmOne Inc. appointed Andrew J. Brown chief financial officer. Before joining the Milpitas, California-based maker of handheld devices, Brown was the finance chief of Legato Systems Inc., a storage-solutions provider acquired by EMC Corp. in October 2003, and vice president and CFO of Adaptec Inc. He replaces Judy Bruner, who left PalmOne to join SanDisk Corp. as executive vice president of administration and CFO.
• Scott R. Douglass stepped into his new role this week as vice president of finance and treasurer of the University of Pennsylvania. Douglass, who joined the university in 1992, had been senior associate dean for finance and administration of the university’s Wharton School of Business since 1997. Previously he served as the secretary of finance for the state of Delaware.
• Sapient, a consultancy and technology-services firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, named Scott Krenz chief financial officer. After serving as finance chief for EDS’s business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Krenz held the positions of corporate vice president and treasurer at the company from 1998. At Sapient, Krenz assumes the CFO title from Susan D. Cooke, who will remain a senior vice president focusing on strategic initiatives. Cooke was CFO at Sapient from 1994 to 2000 and from 2002 to the present.
• Lawrence E. Hyatt, who has served as chief financial officer, secretary, and treasurer of restaurant chain O’Charley’s Inc. part time since November, will take on those roles full time beginning January 3. Before joining the Nashville-based company, Hyatt was executive vice president and CFO of Cole National Corp., an optical and gift retailer recently acquired by Luxottica SpA. Hyatt has also served as finance chief for PSINet Inc., Sodexho Marriott Services Inc., HMS Host Corp., and the management services business of Marriott International.
• Semiconductor designer WJ Communications Inc. appointed Ephraim Kwok senior vice president and chief financial officer at the San Jose, California-based company. Kwok, a semiconductor veteran, has also served as finance chief of Summit Microelectronics, Elantec Semiconductor, Macronix Inc., Ascent Logic Corp., and KMOS Semiconductor.
• Kevin D. Elder is the new chief financial officer of Los Angeles-based StereoVision Entertainment Inc. Elder joined the media company from private software maker Secure Resolutions Inc., where he was a co-founder, executive vice president, and CFO. Previously, he was a commercial banker.
• Minneapolis-based Capella Education Co., the parent corporation of online Capella University, has hired Lois Martin as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Martin joins Capella from telecom equipment maker World Data Products, where she was CFO and executive vice president. Previously, Martin was senior vice president and CFO of check printer Deluxe Corp.
• Mediabolic Inc., a provider of software infrastructure for connected entertainment devices, announced that Gregory H. Smith will join the San Francisco-based company as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Smith most recently was a managing director of View Lodge Ventures, an investment firm that specializes in private technology companies, where he served as CFO and board member of several private companies. Previously he was CFO of WhiteLight Systems Inc. as well as vice president of finance and administration for companies including Petopia.com and Escalade Corp.