• Viacom chief financial officer Bruce Taub has been named executive vice president of operations, a newly created position at the company. Taub will be involved in setting development and financial objectives and helping to identify key operational and strategic issues for the Viacom divisions, including CBS, UPN, and King World Productions, under co-president and co-chief operating officer Les Moonves. Taub will also continue in his role as CBS finance chief.
• Wichita, Kansas-based Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Inc. announced that chief financial officer Randy Pierce will retire September 1. Until the restaurant chain hires a permanent replacement, Pierce will stay on as a consultant, and executive vice president, director, and former CFO John D. White will step in as interim finance chief. This is Pierce’s second attempt at leaving the finance world; he came out of retirement four years ago to join Lone Star.
• The Mohegan Indians, who operate the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, announced a reorganization of the tribe’s top casino management in preparation for a major expansion into gambling markets across the country. Executive vice president of finance Jeffrey Hartmann was named chief operating officer of Mohegan Sun; the tribe’s chief financial officer, Leo M. Chupaska, will become CFO of the tribal gaming authority; and Mitchell Grossinger Etess was named president and CEO of Mohegan Sun, a new position.
• StockerYale Inc., a Salem, New Hampshire-based provider of photonics-based products such as lasers and LEDs, named Richard P. Lindsay executive vice president and chief executive officer effective August 30. Lindsay was recently CFO and director of international business development at The Boston Beer Co., the brewer of Samuel Adams beer.
• Geoff Ribar was named chief financial officer of Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor developer Matrix Semiconductor Inc. Most recently, Ribar served as finance chief for Asyst Technologies; his past finance positions also include the CFO role at Nvidia, Packard Bell NEC, and IBeam Broadcasting. In addition, Ribar spent 16 years at AMD, where his last position was vice president of corporate control.
• The board of Landauer Inc., which analyzes occupational and environmental radiation exposure, elected as a director Thomas M. White, senior vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer of Hub Group Inc. White joined the Hub Group, a $1.3 billion transportation company offering intermodal, truck brokerage, and logistics services, in 2002.
• Thomas H. Weir III is the new chief financial officer for King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based MedRisk Inc., which provides specialty managed-care and claims-workflow-management services to the workers’ compensation industry. Weir, a certified public accountant, was most recently vice president of finance and controller for Exelon Generation in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
• The Aurora Funds, an early-stage venture capital firm, hired Mike Gorman as chief financial officer. Gorman has held previous finance-executive roles at companies including Global Knowledge Network Inc., Accton Americas Management Group, AFAC (a division of Kidde International), SunTechnologies Group Inc., and Datalogic Optic Electronics Inc. He also spent six years at Ernst & Young as a manager in the entrepreneurial services division in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Cleveland.
• Nationwide Mattress and Furniture Warehouse, an Atlanta-based bedding and furniture retailer, appointed Peter Limeri as chief financial officer; he was previously CFO of Anderson Press. The company also named Steve Glucksman as chief executive officer and president. In his most recent position at Brandon Home Furnishings, Glucksman was the president and chief operating officer.
• Amherst, New York-based Columbus McKinnon Corp., which manufactures material handling products, announced a reorganization of its corporate financial and accounting structure. Vice president and corporate controller Karen L. Howard was named vice president and treasurer, a new position; treasury functions were previously the direct responsibility of chief financial officer Robert Friedl. Andrew M. Gates was promoted to corporate controller; he was previously assistant controller. Howard and Gates will report to Friedl.