Westell Technologies Appoints Thomas E. Mader as President and CEO
AURORA, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Westell Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTL), a leading provider of broadband access solutions and conferencing services, today announced that it has appointed Thomas E. Mader, 57, as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 22, 2007. E. Van Cullens, 60, current President and CEO, last year announced his intention to retire and will continue as a member of the company's board of directors.
John Seazholtz, chairman of the company's board of directors, said, "After completing a thorough search process, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Tom Mader as Westell's President and CEO. His extensive global experience in the telecommunications equipment industry and proven record of technology marketing and operating leadership make him an ideal match for Westell."
Mader, who was most recently a corporate vice president and general manager of Motorola's Wireline Networks business, brings to Westell more than 30 years of experience in senior level sales, marketing, strategy and leadership positions in the telecommunications equipment industry. Prior to Motorola, Mader served as president and chief executive officer of Netrake Corporation. Mader led Lucent's Fiber Optic development company in Germany and held other senior sales and marketing positions at Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks.
"I am excited to join Westell Technologies, a company that is well-recognized and respected for the depth of its engineering talent and strong product lines," Mader said. "I look forward to the challenge of leading Westell to continue mobilizing its technology to further grow its business."
At Lucent, Mader was responsible for product management of the Global Optical networking product family, while serving as lead executive in Germany overseeing manufacturing and 2800 Bell Labs developers throughout Europe. Mader operated in several leadership positions at Nortel, including president and chief executive officer of the Meridian Systems joint venture with Bell Atlantic, providing voice and data communications throughout the east coast region.
Mader earned a Bachelor of Arts from Marian College, Indianapolis, Indiana, and a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing from Northwestern University. He will be relocating to Chicago from Texas later this year.
Commenting on the transition, Cullens said, "During the five and a half years I served as Westell's President and CEO, our management team and employees collectively restored the stability of our business and delivered 18 consecutive quarters of profitability.
"Today, Westell is recognized by leading telecommunications carriers as a core provider and a leader in developing and providing technology solutions on which they rely. I sincerely appreciate the contributions of Westell's employees, which made my time here productive, fulfilling and enjoyable," Cullens said.
"On behalf of Westell Technologies employees, Board of Directors, shareholders, and customers, I want to thank Van for his strong and ethical leadership during the last five and a half years. Van stabilized the company's finances while providing a compelling vision for the company at a critical time in its history. The talented senior leadership team, strong product lines and motivated workforce he leaves behind are a testament to what he has achieved," Seazholtz said.
About Westell
Westell Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ: WSTL) headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, is a Broadband Access Solutions company that provides leading broadband products, service solutions, and conferencing solutions for carriers, service providers and business enterprises around the world. Westell delivers innovative, open broadband solutions that meet the market's needs for fast and seamless broadband connection. ConferencePlus, a Westell subsidiary, offers conferencing services including voice, video, and IP data conferencing, to carriers and multi-national corporations throughout the world. For more information visit: www.westell.com.
"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995:
Certain statements contained herein including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believe," "on track," " anticipate," "committed," "expect," "estimate," "await," "continue," "intend," "may," "will," "should," and similar expressions are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks include, but are not limited to, product demand and market acceptance risks, need for financing, the economic downturn in the U.S. economy and telecom market, the impact of competitive products or technologies, competitive pricing pressures, product development, excess and obsolete inventory due to new product development, commercialization and technological delays or difficulties (including delays or difficulties in developing, producing, testing and selling new products and technologies), the effect of Westell's accounting policies, the need for additional capital, the effect of economic conditions and trade, legal social and economic risks (such as import, licensing and trade restrictions) and other risks more fully described in Westell's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 under the section "Risk Factors." Westell undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Source: Westell Technologies, Inc.
Released January 11, 2007