Nortel names Mumford CTO

Vendor giant Nortel Networks today announced Greg Mumford as its new chief technology officer as part of a series of executive-level appointments.

Mumford, 55, previously was president of Nortel’s optical long-haul networks division, a job that will be handled by Brian McFadden, a 22-year Nortel veteran. In addition, Marco Pagani was named as Nortel’s president of metro optical networks.

During his 30 years at Nortel, Mumford has held several management positions. He is credited with helping the vendor develop its successful 10 GB/s product portfolio and the first demonstrated 40 GB/s optical line system.

“My new role is very much focused on strategy and getting ahead of the curve instead of on product delivery,” Mumford said.

Much of Mumford’s recent efforts have been focused on the development of the Optera Connect HDX, a much-anticipated optical switch. Although the company declined to say when the product would be generally available, its progress helped clear the way for Mumford’s ascension to CTO, according to Nortel President and CEO Frank Dunn.

“It was important that, before we made this transition, we had the HDX in production and in the process of being ready to ship to customer labs,” Dunn said in a statement. “With the HDX available to the market as the pillar of the next-generation long haul optical networks, now is an excellent time for Greg’s transition to the CTO role.”

Mumford’s appointment fills a void left by the departure of Bill Hawe in February, said a Nortel spokeswoman. Though Dunn, Nortel’s former chief financial officer, became CEO John Roth’s successor on Nov. 1, the company has yet to fill the void left by the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Clarence Chandran in March.