Stuart M. Bitting to Replace Joe L. Powers

(Nashville, Tenn.) Thomas Nelson President and CEO Michael S. Hyatt announced today that Stuart M. Bitting has accepted the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Thomas Nelson. On December 3, Bitting will succeed the post from Joe L. Powers who has held the position since 1979.

“Soon after Joe shared his retirement plans with our executive leadership team, we began an extensive search to find a world-class replacement,” said Hyatt. “With his rich financial background, strategic mindset and competitive nature, Stuart Bitting is the perfect executive to direct Thomas Nelson’s financial objectives through this period of dynamic growth. I am excited to welcome Stuart to our executive leadership team.”

Bitting brings over twenty years of diversified financial experience to Thomas Nelson. He has worked for both successful public and private companies, most recently serving as Chief Financial Officer of David Weekley Homes, one of the largest private homebuilders in the United States.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Thomas Nelson team at this critical juncture in its long and respected history,” said Bitting. “Mike Hyatt has assembled a stellar management team and I feel honored to be able to serve on that team. It is a rare opportunity to have personal and career missions converge and I look forward to leveraging my faith and experience in helping to grow the company.”

Bitting was raised in Moline, Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from St. Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa, and a Financial Certification from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He and his wife of 24 years, Carol, have a 22-year-old daughter, Lauren, and a 16-year-old son, Ryan. The Bittings will be relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, from Katy, Texas, later this fall.

Powers will remain at the company serving as Executive Vice President, Strategic Development until his planned retirement in July of 2009. In this new role, Powers will aide in the transition of his successor, focus on mergers and acquisitions, and head-up several special projects. He will continue to report directly to Hyatt.

“I am proud to have been a part of Thomas Nelson’s rich history and am so thankful to the Company’s customers, authors, vendors and especially to the employees, both past and present, who have made this both a rewarding and wonderful adventure,” said Powers. “I have great confidence in Stuart Bitting and the entire executive leadership team and their ability to build on Thomas Nelson’s remarkable success.”

Contact:
Lindsey Nobles
Director of Corporate Communications
tel: (615) 902-1109
cell: (615) 476-5984
lnobles@thomasnelson.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 at 8:20 am and is filed under Corporate Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.