J.D. Edwards' Co-Founder And CEO Retires--Again

For the second time since co-founding J.D. Edwards & Co. nearly 25 years ago, Edward McVaney has gone fishing. The company's board of directors formally accepted McVaney's retirement Thursday and appointed Robert Dutkowsky as president and CEO.

Dutkowsky will take the additional title of chairman at the company's stockholders meeting in March, according to a company statement. McVaney remains a member of the board of directors. McVaney retired the first time in late 1998 and joked that he loved spending his time casting for trout in the mountain streams not far from the company's Denver headquarters. His replacement, Doug Massingill, stepped aside for McVaney's return in April 2000, as the company's revenue slid to an alarming low.

McVaney leaves the company in better shape than when he came out of retirement, although there have been bumps in the road. Last year J.D. Edwards posted a $185.9 million net loss for its fiscal third quarter, ended July 31, but rebounded with a $20.4 million profit in the fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, on revenue of $235.4 million. That's up from a $12.3 million profit on $277 million in revenue in the same quarter the previous year.

Dutkowsky, 47, was previously president of Teradyne Inc.'s Assembly Test Division and chairman, president, and CEO of GenRad Inc., which was acquired by Teradyne in October 2001. Prior to joining GenRad in 2000, Dutkowsky was an executive VP at storage vendor EMC, responsible for global sales, marketing, alliances, and customer service.