Bausch & Lomb and TeleTech Holdings Hire Replacements for the CIOs Who Left Them

Plus: Former CIO of Ericsson to leave mobile provider to pursue new opportunities and much, much more.

Ericsson announced Wednesday that its EVP Bjoern Olsson (left) will be leaving the company to pursue new opportunities at the end of the year. Olsson, who has worked for the mobile communications company for 25 years, served as its CIO from 2002 to 2003.

TeleTech Holdings hired a replacement for Kamalesh Dwivedi, who joined domain name registrar Network Solutions as its CIO in April. The business process outsourcing services provider hired Carol Kline as its new EVP and CIO. Kline comes to the company from Echostar, where she was EVP of operations. Prior to Echostar, Kline was America Online‘s EVP and CIO. She also previously worked for Qwest as its SVP of worldwide ops. Kline holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio Northern University and an MBA in marketing and business policy from Case Western.

Evon L. Jones left Bausch & Lomb, where he was corporate vice president and CIO, to join Liz Claiborne. Jones began his new CIO post with the fashion designer on July 14. He reports to COO Michael Scarpa. Prior to Bausch & Lomb, Jones was SVP and CIO for The Dial Corporation.

Bausch & Lomb wasted no time in finding someone to replace Jones. This week, the contact lense maker apppointed Alan Farnsworth as its new CIO and SVP of customer service and IT. Farnsworth is a 20-year veteran of the Rochester, NY-based company. He most recently served as president of Bausch & Lomb’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He joined the company in 1988 as VP of international business development. Farnsworth holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Rochester as well as a law degree from Cornell.

In other eye care industry news, eye care center owner HVHC named Michael L. Thibdeau as its new CIO on July 14. Thibdeau had been serving as CIO of one of HVHC’s vision centers (Davis Vision) since 1997. He will continue to serve as Davis Vision’s CIO in his new role. Prior to Davis Vision, Thibdeau was an executive vice president for Novalis Corporation, a managed care technology and consulting company, and second vice president with Lincoln National Corporation’s Employee Benefits Division. He has also worked for health insurance companies. Thibdeau is a CPA in the state of New York.

Two executives are retiring from their posts with Cash American International’s Internet Services Division on October 1: Alexander Goldstein, the SVP and CIO, and Albert Goldstein, the division’s president. In August 2007, Cash America promoted its EVP and CIO, Jerry Wackerhagen, president of its Stores division amidst a management realignment.

Ricky McClellen joined digital advertising company EyeWonder as its CIO on July 23.

USANA Health Sciences promoted seven executives, including its VP of IT, Roy Truett. Roy is now CIO.

Michael Mathias was promoted from head of enterprise architecture to vice president and CTO of Aetna. He reports to Aetna SVP and CIO Meg McCarthy. Mathias has worked for the Hartford, Conn.-based health insurer since 1993, when he joined as a systems engineering manager. Prior to Aetna, Mathias worked for UBS/PaineWebber, Verizon, Educational Testing Service, Macmillan Publishing and Prudential Insurance in managerial, technical and application development roles.

American Laser Centers, which provides laser hair removal services, has plucked Christopher Eagle among the candidates for its CIO position. Eagle will be responsible for rebuilding the company’s IT infrastructure as well as relaunching its website. The new CIO comes to the Farmington Hills, Mich.-based company from Borders Books, where he was director of e-commerce systems and director of retail systems. Borders has recently been going through a relatively high-profile transformation as it seeks to compete with Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in the moribund publishing indusry. Earlier this year, Borders unveiled a relaunched website. Last summer, the company appointed a new CIO, Susan Harwood, to help with the turnaround. Harwood has been working to expand IT leadership at Borders. In January, she hired a vice president of IT delivery services.