Nortel Names New CTO
Roese's nearly 20-year career includes experience in networking, security, VoIP, wireless and machine-to-machine communications technology, according to Nortel. He most recently served as vice president and CTO for networking technologies at semiconductor vendor Broadcom. Before that, he was executive vice president and CTO at Enterasys Networks and CTO at Cabletron.
Roese's appointment becomes effective June 28. He will report to President and CEO Mike Zafirovski and will be based in Ottowa, Nortel's R&D headquarters. Roese takes over for interim CTO Peter Carbone, who will remain with the company, a spokeswoman said.
At Nortel, Roese will oversee R&D strategy and execution. He also will work closely with Chief Strategy Officer George Riedel, who joined the company in February, on emerging technologies, market opportunities and strategic partnerships.
Roese will act as the "spiritual leader" for Nortel's engineers and developers, according to Zafirovski. "Nortel has a rich and powerful heritage in innovation. As CTO, John will represent the heart and soul of that innovation engine and become the spiritual leader for our more than 12,000 engineers and developers," Zafirovski said in a statement.
Roese is the latest in a string of new executives named by Zafirovski since he joined the Brampton, Ontario-based networking and telecommunications vendor in November. Other recent Zafirovski appointees include Chief Marketing Officer Lauren Flaherty and President of Global Services Dietmar Wendt, who both joined Nortel May 1.