MCI Picks Former U.S. Attorney General Katzenbach As New Chairman

A member of MCI's board since July 2002, Katzenbach will become the "non-executive chairman of the board" when the company officially emerges from bankruptcy protection, scheduled for April, MCI said in a statement. He takes over the post from Michael Capellas, who has been both chairman and CEO.

"The separation of the chairman and CEO roles is part of MCI's corporate governance reforms," the company said.

Katzenbach, 82, served as IBM's general counsel and senior vice president from 1969 to 1986.

In its earlier iteration as WorldCom, MCI was racked by accounting scandals that continue to be litigated.

In another development, MCI said Rick Roscitt, president and COO, has left the company in the reorganization that eliminated Roscitt's position. In a terse statement, MCI said: "As a result of these organizational changes, Rick Roscitt . . .has elected to leave the company to pursue other opportunities."

Katzenbach served as U.S. Attorney General from 1964 to 1966 and as Undersecretary of State from 1966 to 1969. Previously, he had served on the faculty of Yale Law School and served under U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the Justice Department. At IBM, Katzenbach directed IBM's legal strategy as it defended itself from several antitrust suits, including one brought by the U.S. Justice Department.

*This story courtesy of Techweb.com.