• Best Buy has made several changes to its leadership team, including the position of CFO. The retailer moved its seven-year CFO, Darren Jackson, to the new position of executive vice president of customer operating groups. He will lead the company’s entertainment, PC mobility, and home solutions operating groups. Jim Muehlbauer will serve as interim CFO until Jackson’s permanent replacement is named. Muehlbauer has been with Best Buy for five years, starting as the CFO of Musicland and later becoming CFO of Best Buy U.S.
• Lehman Brothers has moved CFO Chris O’Meara into the position of global head of risk management and put Erin Callan in his place. Both veterans of Lehman since the mid-1990s, the two executives will begin their new jobs on December 1. Callan is currently leading the investment bank’s initiative called Global Hedge Fund Coverage and has also held the title of managing director. O’Meara, who has been the CFO for three years, has always worked in Lehman’s finance department, including roles as global controller and CFO of investment banking. He will now be responsible for the firm’s risk profile, including oversight of risk management policies, procedures, analytics, and metrics. He will also monitor firmwide risk appetite, trading limits, and required equity capital.
• Joseph Tusa will leave his CFO post at Comsys IT Partners early next year for personal reasons. He joined the professional staffing services company in 2001 as senior vice president of finance and administration. He previously was senior vice president of Metamor Worldwide, CFO of DSM Copolymer, and controller of Total American Mining. He began his career at Arthur Andersen as an audit manager. Comsys has also announced that it created the position of senior vice president and chief accounting officer for Amy Bobbitt, who has worked for the company for the past 15 months overseeing its accounting and financial reporting staff.
• Celsion Corp. has cut back the responsibilities of its CFO, Anthony Deasey, who has since agreed to leave the drug company. Paul Susie, the company’s controller, will fill in as interim chief accounting officer and act as the company’s financial officer. Celsion said Deasey’s departure after seven years with the company is related to the completion of its restructuring. “As a result , we have agreed that he will pursue other interests,” the company said.
• Aerosonic Corp. has appointed Charles Pope as CFO. He joins the flight-product supplier after 25 years of financial management experience, the company noted. He previously held finance chief positions at Reptron Electronics, SRI/Surgical Express, and UTEK Corp. He also was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
• DataDirect Networks has named Kevin Rubin CFO. He has been with the storage solutions company since August after working at MRV Communications, where he was the CFO and a compliance officer. He began his career at Arthur Andersen.
• Integral Systems Inc. has hired William Bambarger as CFO. He replaces William Lewis, who was filling in as interim CFO and will stay with the company as treasurer. Bambarger joins the company from EnergySolutions (formerly known as Duratek), where he was senior vice president, corporate controller, and chief accounting officer. He has also served as director of corporate accounting for McCormick and Co. and as CFO of RWD Technologies.
• Technology Solutions Co. has appointed Timothy Rogers as CFO and secretary. He was most recently at health-care company RX Solutions, where he was CFO from 2003 to 2006. He also held the CFO title at OrthoRehab Inc. He began his career at Arthur Andersen.
• CFO James Cochran has told his employer, TurboChef Technologies, that he wants out of his position by the end of the year. He will remain with the company in an as-yet-to-be-determined role until that time so that he can help transition his successor. TurboChef is in the process of finding that person. Cochran has been with the food services provider for nearly four years. He has also held the CFO title at PracticeWorks Inc. and VitalWorks Inc.. He has also worked at BDO Seidman. The day after announcing Cochran’s departure and updating its regulatory filings, TurboChef announced it was once again in compliance with Nasdaq’s compliance rules. The company had restated prior financial results to make up for irregularities in its accounting for stock options.
• Ken Goldman has joined Fortinet as CFO. He is no stranger to the role, having held the finance chief position at Siebel Systems until it was acquired by Oracle, in addition to the CFO positions at Excite@Home, Sybase, Cypress Semiconductor, and VLSI Technology. Goldman garnered the attention of the business press several years ago when he was accused of violating Regulation FD for statements he apparently made during a dinner with analysts. Goldman has also served as the president of the Financial Executive Institute and was once a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Advisory Council.
• Call-center services company iQor has appointed Vijay Tharani as CFO. He most recently served as chief financial officer and treasurer at Baldwin Technology Co. He also held the CFO title at Weightronix LLC and the international division of Fisher Scientific Corp. In addition, he has worked at RJR Nabisco and the Pillsbury Corp.
• Global expert services firm LECG has named Steven Fife chief financial officer. He has been the company’s vice president of finance since May. He succeeds Jack Burke, who is transitioning after four years as CFO into a new role as LECG’s managing director responsible for emerging practices. Fife previously was senior corporate controller at Gilead Sciences and has held senior finance positions at several other companies, including Amkor Technologies as corporate controller. He began his finance career with Deloitte & Touche.