Puckett Finishes 100 Days at Dupont

There’s big news in the private sector from John Puckett (right), former vice president and general manager of wireless and Internet technologies at Polaroid. Previously, Puckett also served as CIO and CTO for Toysmart.com and CIO of GTE Internetworking?companies marked by the black cloud of bankruptcy.

Puckett is finishing up his first 100 days with his new employer, DuPont. He joined the Wilmington, Del.-based chemical manufacturer this past January as CTO. He reports to DuPont CIO Bob Ridout and is responsible for identifying technologies that add value to the business and increase shareholder value.

Boasting $24.7 billion in revenue, $4.3 billion in profits, 79,000 employees worldwide and such recognizable brands as Lycra, Stainmaster and Teflon, the 200-year-old company is a far cry from Puckett’s previous employers. However, he says his decision to join a corporate stalwart like DuPont (a position he found through a recruiter) was not influenced by his track record of joining financially unstable firms.

"If you asked me that when I left Toysmart for Polaroid, which was then a stable company, there would have been an ingredient of that. But at this point, absolutely not," Puckett says. "I viewed the opportunity at DuPont as something that was a great match for my skills. The quality of the company, the way it views technology, its reputation in the industry and how it conducts itself played a role in the decision [to join]."