News

Kodak executive departs for Lucent

February 18, 2002

MELVILLE, N.Y. - Eastman Kodak Co.'s (NYSE:EK) plans to launch a search for a new president and chief operating officer after Patricia Russo resigned those posts after nine months on Jan. 8 to become chief executive officer of Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU).

Kodak chairman and chief executive officer Daniel Carp will take over Russo's responsibilities until a permanent replacement is found. The company has more than 35,000 digital photo kiosks deployed worldwide, the world's largest kiosk deployment.

Russo spent two decades at AT&T and Lucent, which spun off from AT&T in 1996, before leaving in the late 1990s. She was chairman at communications services provider Avaya before joining Kodak.

Carp told Reuters that he was disappointed in Russo's departure, as she was expected to offer leadership in the company's digital imaging strategies, an area where Carp lacks experience. But he said the company would continue to seek executives with experience in that sector.

"One of the things we will be looking for is people with skill in the digital space and the way value is created in that space," Carp said. "I don't feel that (Russo's departure) is an urgent gap."