3Com appointed Robert Mao as its new CEO, replacing Edgar Masri who is leaving the company. Mao will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors. The company also announced that it hired Ronald Sege as President and Chief Operating Officer and appointed him to the Board of Directors effective upon his joining the company on April 30, 2008.
To support the company’s increasing emphasis on its growing and profitable China-based H3C operations, Mao will be based in China. Sege will be located in the United States and will focus on 3Com operations outside of China, accelerating the adoption of H3C-developed products in global market.
Mao, 64, was most recently 3Com Executive Vice President, Corporate Development from August 2006 to March 2007. Prior to joining 3Com, Mao worked for Nortel Networks, where he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the company’s greater China operations from 1997 to 2006. Prior to his time at Nortel, he was Regional President of greater China for Alcatel. Mao also held senior managerial and technical positions at ITT in Asia and the United States. He holds a master’s degree in material science and metallurgical engineering from Cornell University, and has a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Before returning to 3Com, Sege, 51, most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tropos Networks, Inc. a provider of wireless broadband networks, from 2004 to 2008. He is currently on Tropos’ Board of Advisors. Prior to Tropos, Sege was President and Chief Executive Officer of Ellacoya Networks.http://www.3com.com
