New CIOs at Borders and Raytheon IIS

Cedric Vanzura is leaving his post as Borders‘ chief strategy officer and EVP of emerging business and technology. The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based bookseller announced today that it is eliminating Vanzura’s position. Vanzura will stick around for a few months to transition his IT responsibilities to the company’s new CIO, Susan Harwood, who is joining in September, whereupon he’ll officially leave the company. Last March, Borders announced that it would be hiring a new CIO as part of its long-term strategic plan (which Vanzura helped craft, according to the press release announcing his resignation from the company), so his departure doesn’t come as a complete surprise to me.

Verizon Communications promoted Dick Lynch to EVP and CTO today. This is a new position for the company that reports to Verizon President and COO Denny Strigl. (Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir also reports to Strigl.) Lynch most recently served as EVP and CTO of Verizon Wireless. He had held that position since the company was founded in 2000. Like many current Verizon executives, Lynch joined the company from Bell Atlantic Mobile.

In his new role, Lynch will be responsible for establishing and managing the overall direction, technology and planning of all of Verizon’s networks — Verizon Wireless, Verizon Telecom and Verizon Business. The CTOs in each of the business groups  will continue to report to the respective group presidents and will be responsible for the day-to-day execution of their network deployment strategies. For more information on Lynch’s accomplishments and professional associations, check out the press release announcing his hire. 

James McCoy (at left)  was named VP and CIO of Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) business. He reports to Raytheon IIS President Michael Keebaugh and is relocating to IIS headquarters in Garland, Texas. Keebaugh referred to McCoy as as an “innovator and creative leader” with “unique insights into the challenges and opportunities” facing IIS’s business today. The business unit president will rely on his new report’s “expertise, leadership and vision” to ensure that Raytheon IIS remains at the top of its game.

McCoy most recently worked for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Tewksbury, Mass. as its director of wide area surveillance and space situational awareness programs. Over the course of his 22-year career, he has held positions of increasing responsibility at the defense

company in engineering, operations, supply chain management, IT, product assurance and program management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and a MBA from Boston University.