First Solar, a manufacturer of solar modules, has hired Mark Widmar as chief financial officer (CFO), responsible for the company’s global financial operations. Widmar will succeed James Zhu, who has been interim CFO since 1 January 2011. Zhu will retain his role as First Solar’s chief accounting officer (CAO).
Widmar joins First Solar, effective 4 April 2011, from Graftech International, a global manufacturer of advanced carbon and graphite materials, where he was CFO and president of the Engineered Solutions segment. Prior to joining Graftech in 2006, Widmar worked at NCR Corporation from 2003 as corporate controller and a business unit CFO. Before that he was a division controller for Dell and a business unit CFO for Lucent Technologies.
Widmar earned a BS in business accounting and an MBA in finance from Indiana University and is a certified public accountant (CPA).