News Article
Mark Widmar to join First Solar as Chief Financial Officer
The CdTe solar cell manufacturer has appointed Widmar to take over from James Zhu, who has been interim CFO since January 2011.
First Solar has announced that Mark Widmar will join as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), responsible for the company’s global financial operations.
Widmar will succeed James Zhu, who has been interim CFO since Jan. 1, 2011. Zhu will retain his role as First Solar’s Chief Accounting Officer.
Widmar joins First Solar effective April 4, 2011, from Graftech International, a global manufacturer of advanced carbon and graphite materials, where he was CFO and President of the Engineered Solutions segment.
Prior to joining Graftech in 2006, Widmar worked at NCR Corporation from 2003 as corporate controller and a business unit CFO. Before that he was a division controller for Dell and a business unit CFO for Lucent Technologies.
“Mark brings nearly 25 years of experience in finance, accounting and controlling to First Solar,” said Rob Gillette, CEO of First Solar. “We are confident that Mark’s expertise and his track record of delivering results make him the right leader for our finance organisation.”
Widmar earned a B.S. in business accounting and an M.B.A. in finance from Indiana University and is a Certified Public Accountant.